Persephone
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: Now Sam is a Cybertronian, how will this affect his future? What will this mean for how his human friends, the Autobots, and the Decepticons view Sam?
1. Chapter 1

Persephone.

Summary: Now Sam is a Cybertronian, how will this affect his future? What will this mean for how his human friends, the Autobots, and the Decepticons view Sam?

Rating: M for safety.

Disclaimer: Transformers and all canon characters belong to Hasbro/Dreamworks and Paramount, and I make no claim that states otherwise. Sequel to the story "Betrayal."

A/N: Credit where it's due to reviewer Peya Luna of this site, not just requesting a sequel, but for telling me what loose ends and issues could and should be addressed. And I have just found this, two years after I began writing it, and had forgotten I had it.

Persephone.

Chapter One.

Sam awoke to the sound of whispered debate that was almost on the verge of argument.

"Changing his form is not something to be bandied about lightly, Bumblebee. Perhaps his current form freaks you out, but you'll get used to it. Additionally, not only should this be Sam's decision, but it's a bit difficult to work out how to work on a mech who could melt you just by flinching!"

"You're right, Ratchet, that I'll get used to it, but what about everyone else on Autobot New Cybertron?" Bumblebee replied. "It's not me so much that Sam needs to worry about, but somebody as jumpy as Cliffjumper, who might see him, make a wrong assumption, and shoot at him!"

Sam swung his legs off the recharge pallet he was lying on and stood. Luckily the Cybertronian vessels had been built to accommodate even over-large mechs like himself, and he carefully moved into the main part of the med bay, calling a hello to announce himself so as not to startle the medic or the scout.

"I'm sorry, but I woke up and couldn't help overhearing your conversation," he said "and I think Bumblebee does have a point. So, is there anything that you could do to change my form to make it less fearsome? And can you do anything about these vents, and the risk of melting people?"

"If we were still on Earth, I'd suggest scanning something large, like a Chinook helicopter or a large aeroplane. We could possibly try and build something Earthlike and flying for you to scan, but until then, the easiest option would be a new paintjob. As for your vents, we might be able to build a heat-resistant armour shell to go over them and dissipate the heat somewhere. Perhaps associated force-fields that you can close off for a time, if it becomes necessary."

"Is there anything you could do to make my face less fearsome?" Sam asked. "I could relocate your sensor fins to the back of your head, or replace them with a more modern sensor-crown, yes, and I could, over time, re-model your head so it's not so long, but there is one thing I can do now that will make quite a striking difference to your face, at least."

"There is?" Sam asked. "What's that?"

"Crouch down to where I can reach the back of your head and I'll do it," Ratchet said. "I'll change the colour-filters in your optics from red to blue. It's also something you should know how to do for yourself, so I'll give you that information too."

Sam crouched as instructed so that Ratchet could run a data lead into the back of his neck. Sam's vision briefly blanked, and then the knowledge of how to change the filters himself was in his processors. As Ratchet disconnected, Sam stood and looked in the nearest reflective surface, and saw that blue, as opposed to red optics, made a substantial difference, as Ratchet had suggested, if you looked at the face.

"Thanks, Ratch," he said. As he stood again, he felt a slight vibration run through the floor. "What was that?" he asked.

"Your vibration sensors are as sensitive as mine, we'll have to find out what other sensitivities you have, Sam," Ratchet remarked. "We're decelerating, and if, as I suspect, we're at the edge of the solar system containing Autobot New Cybertron, we're going to change our approach to head for the planet and then establish a geosynchronous orbit above our main landing area."

"You're going to land the Ark on the planet?" Sam asked. "Isn't it too big to escape the planet's gravity again when it's down?"

"No Sam, we'll go down in the transport vessels. Now that the Ark has transported its allotted quota of humans to their worlds, we only have the humans who requested to come to our world and who were accepted. They will be taken down first, a Cybertronian pilot will operate the transport ships. Once the humans are gone, the Cybertronians will follow, and the ship moved remotely to a different geosynchronous orbit. We hope to build a space docking structure for craft in the future, but that will be in the future."

"I guess we'll be building a lot of things from scratch," Sam said. "Will we be able to cope? What about the humans? Will they cope?"

"There have been temporary structures built, for both humans and Cybertronians. The planet we have chosen has a high metal content, but has some areas where organic life, in the form of plants, has been able to gain a foothold," Ratchet explained. "We managed to take some Earth dirt from various locations with us, and analysis shows that with few exceptions, most plant-bearing organic soil has a similar makeup, though with varying amounts of the elements depending on the planet. We have seeded several planets with Earth food plants, and the early results are encouraging. In fact the first harvests are probably being consumed by the humans on our world, although many of the tins and packets they brought with them will still be available."

A memory of his mother baking cakes and cookies sprang to mind, and Sam supposed she'd be willing to try baking bread. Although both his parents were now over a hundred years old, a combination of long-living genes and Ratchet's care had kept them pretty spry.

"What about Mikaela and my folks?" he fretted. "How will they react when they see me looking like this, blue optics or not?"

"They have been informed and warned as to your change, and the extent of it," Ratchet assured him. "They may be startled when they first see you in the flesh, or to be more accurate, in the metal, but as they know of your change, that should soon pass." Sam nodded at Ratchet, and decided that that was some small comfort at least.

oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

It took a further five days to reach Autobot New Cybertron, and a further day after that to achieve a geosynchronous orbit. It took yet another three weeks to move all the humans to the planet and get them sheltered and organised in the temporary shelters, and during that time Ratchet managed, (with some cunningly-placed force fields to deflect the heat from his vents,) to replace Sam's mobile chin and head sensors with a sensor-crown. He also succeeded in reducing the length of his face, and managed to make the claws on the ends of his fingers retractable. Bumblebee, for his part, had applied blue and white paint to Sam to make sure people would look twice, adding glyphs for 'friend' and 'non-hostile' to drive the point home. When the time came for them to depart from the Ark and go down to the planet, Sam had mixed feelings. How would Mikaela react to his new form, he wondered, and his parents, and his children, and Miles? He thought about all the possible reactions, both positive and negative, during the trip down to the surface of the world dubbed New Cybertron.

As the boarding ramp descended, Optimus moved down, flanked by Ironhide and Ratchet. The medic beckoned Sam to follow him, and as Sam moved into place, Bumblebee moved to walk beside him, reaching up to take one of Sam's large hands into his own. Jazz, re-animated by Sam when he first found out about his AllSpark powers, nimbly somersaulted to land on his other side and walk down with him, grabbing his other hand in a show of support.

Behind them came the big Seekers, Shadowwing and Freefall, who were only marginally smaller than he was, and First Aid and Jolt followed them. Behind them followed Skids and Mudflap, arguing with each other even as they descended the ramp. At the bottom of the ramp they stopped and looked over the assorted group of humans and 'bots that had come out to meet them.

Optimus moved first, to greet the Arcee triplets, one of whom was his own beloved Elita, with his AllSpark-in-Sam created Terra Prima. Yet another of the triplets was Ironhide's equally-beloved Chromia, who was accompanying their AllSpark-in-Sam created Gilt. Only the triplet head, Arcee herself, was single.

When Sam has asked, it transpired that the Arcee triplets were not triplets in the same way humans would be. They all had different sets of Creators, but a triplet was the grounder equivalent of a trine, bonded to each other, working as a team, but not a gestalt group.

As Ratchet moved forwards, a nudge from behind and the tugging of his hands from Bumblebee and Jazz made Sam realise he should move forwards too. He did so, allowing Bumblebee and Jazz to bring him forwards as they both used their other hands to grip his lower arms. When they pushed them inwards, he allowed them to guide his limbs until his arms were held in front of him, crossed at the wrists, at waist level. He threw a querying glance at Bumblebee, who commed 'That sign is a promise of non-aggression.' Sam nodded and kept the wrists crossed as the two smaller 'bots let his arms and hands go.

The quiet hubbub of voices that had been heard once the ramp had opened stopped as the crowd saw him. Then a worried murmur began, occasionally punctuated by the cry of one of the human children. He stood like that while Optimus announced vocally (and by com as well for the 'bots) what had happened and who Sam actually was, despite his changed appearance. The murmur subsided, and then Mikaela came forwards.

"Come on, Sam, your family need you." Encouraged by Mikaela, he moved down the ramp, those behind him following. He put his hands down and she hopped into them, years of doing the same with Bumblebee had kept her supple and fit. He raised her to his face.

"Come on, Sam, it's your Dad. He's had a fall, and he's in the hospital block." As Sam followed the direction of her pointing finger, she continued.

"They're not sure he's going to survive."


	2. Chapter 2

Persephone.

Chapter Two.

A/N: This chapter is a little shirt, but other chapters will be longer, I promise!

Sam set off for the building at a run, following Mikaela's shouted directions and pointing finger until he reached the room where several humans were clustered around his father, who was not conscious and was connected to beeping machinery.

"Clear the way! Let him through, it's Sam and that's his father!" The medics moved aside, some with dissatisfied grumbles, leaving just Judy, her time-worn face wet with tears, holding onto one of Ron's limp hands with both of her own.

"Can you do anything for him, son?" Judy asked, seemingly unfazed at the sight of her now gigantic metal offspring. She was aware of his AllSpark powers, but had all but ignored them until now.

"I can try," he said, spreading his hands around his Dad and focusing on his happiest memory of his Dad, recalling how his Dad had spun him around by one arm and leg when he was five. Sam had noticed that when strong emotions were involved, the AllSpark seemed to perform better.

Sam's hands began to glow the electric blue he associated with the AllSpark working, and the glow spread and enlarged to enclose his father. Sam didn't know exactly what the AllSpark would do, it usually had a good idea of what was needed, although sometimes the way it went about it was surprising or unexpected. For example, some years ago, Sam had visited his friend Miles. Miles was crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, his joints knarled and swollen by the painful condition, and Sam had decided to try and heal his long-time friend of the illness. While Sam had been concentrating on letting the AllSpark sense what was wrong and correct it, Miles had wistfully remarked that he'd love to know what it was like to fly under his own power. Miles' desire must have been strong because the AllSpark responded.

Sam hadn't known why the AllSpark had expanded its shell of energy so far out, didn't know what to expect when the power withdrew, but of the few ideas he had begun to form, Miles in a new Seeker body wasn't one of them. Though he had to admit, it had cured Miles rheumatoid arthritis, prevented it from coming back, and fulfilled Miles' greatest desire all in one. So it had done what he had wanted, and more, just not in any of the ways he had imagined.

He had, if he was being honest, expecting has Dad to also be placed in a more durable Cybertronian body, hopefully not too much larger than his current one. As the light faded, however, Sam saw that once again the AllSpark had other ideas, one he had probably given it.

It was his Dad alright, but the father from his early memories, younger looking, having lost a few pounds and the paunch gained with the help of the beers Ron had enjoyed in his later working life. He had his hair, all of it, and Sam could see, as his father opened his eyes and looked first at Sam, and then at his smooth hands, that his Dad still had all his memories.

Ron, running his hands down a younger trimmer body, got to his feet as the medics disconnected him from the various machines, and looked at Judy, who had raised her hands to her face, first in surprised delight, but then to cover her face and turn away.

"Judy?" he asked, going to her and touching her shoulders, but she pulled away. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Look at you, you're young again, and here I am, still old. You have a second chance and I suggest you take it," she said, and Sam could hear the tears in her voice. "It will hurt, but I won't stand in your way. You can find someone else, I'll understand, you won't want to be married to a woman who looks old enough to be your grandmother."

"Hey, Mum, wait a mo, Sam said, as Ron himself said "Judy, it's you I love, age or lack of it won't stop that." Sam lowered his hands around his mother and said in his head to the AllSpark _'Make her look as young as he does.'_

Sam had not asked the AllSpark to change anybody for any reason other than healing, or keeping somebody alive before, and didn't know if the AllSpark would respond to a situation where nobody was in physical pain or dying. However, this time the AllSpark reacted exactly as he wanted, and a few moments later, his parents were dancing round the room in each other's arms, looking like a couple in their late twenties, and acting like a pair of seven year olds.

As they spun towards his leg again, he lifted it to let them pass unimpeded, and it was then that they seemed to remember who they were and that people were watching. Judy blushed, the pink suffusing her face, and actually making her look younger still.

"Oh Ron, stop, we must thank Sam and the AllSpark for this," Judy reminded her husband. "Thank you, Sam," she said. She regarded his paintwork before letting out a sigh as she spotted the Cybertronian glyphs and rough Autobot symbols painted on his hide. "Are those Cybertronian tattoos? You never seemed like a tattoo kind of boy.

Sam couldn't help but burst out laughing. Of all the remarks she could have made regarding his new form…

"Mum, I love you," he said. "No, not quite, these are easier to remove than tattoos, it lets people know that despite my look, I'm not dangerous or hostile."

"Well that's a relief, I was dreading the day you came home with a tattoo. Thankfully you never did. Anyway, don't you have a wife and family of your own to see to?" She made shooing noises and motions with her hands, "Your father and I have some seeing to each other to do," she said, surprising her husband by grabbing his butt with both hands. Ron yelped and turned, making a grab for her that she avoided with a giggle.

"Oh God, no, please, you two, wait till I'm out of the room before you start grabbing each other and doing whatever!" Sam said.

"Don't you want a brother or sister, Sam, I know there's an age gap-"

"Oh God, ugh, no, Mum, Dad, I don't need that image in my head of you two – gross!" he said.

"But you know the facts of life, you've fathered a few offspring of your own, Sam, we're your parents, we made you that way, and we still have needs, especially now these younger bodies are up for it, if you forgive the pun!" she said.

"Yeah, I know you must have because I'm here but nobody likes to think of their parents doing the nasty!" Sam said, making for the door. Enclosing a replay of his memories of the event, he sent a quick encrypted message to Optimus and Ratchet, hoping they could throw some light on it for him. It was true that on the Autobot world, he should be among friends, but he was sure the Decepticons had spies who could catch the message, hence the encryption.

Little did Sam know that the encryption had already been broken, for although Soundwave had left for the Decepticon Base, he had made sure through various methods, that he was privy to every broadcast.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Soundwave called a meeting on Decepticon New Cybertron an hour after he had received, reviewed, and extrapolated certain things from the message.

He shared the knowledge with the Seekers and a few selected grounders, who he thought needed to know. Some he told for their thoughts and ideas, others for physical attributes, and some, such as Alice, for both. Suggestions were made, ideas discussed, and opinions aired. One opinion all the participants had was that it was unfair, if Sam proved to still be able to channel the AllSpark's ability, for only the Autobots to benefit.

In the end, two sets of plans were decided upon and expanded, and it just a few days later that Soundwave, Starscream, and Alice headed to the Autobot Base, with a proposed trade agreement to debate.

While Starscream and Soundwave discussed the merits and terms of trade, Alice planned to gather what Soundwave felt was the most valuable commodity of all: information.


	3. Chapter 3

Persephone.

Chapter Three.

A/N: 1,joor = 6.5 hours.

"It looks, Sam, as if the AllSpark Energy in you has not all been used up or altered by your own transformation from organic to Cybertronian," Ratchet commented from his seat in Optimus' office, where he and Ratchet were meeting with Sam to discuss the recent AllSpark related events that had occurred, including his transformation in Egypt and the restoration of his parents to younger versions of their own forms. "Optimus and I had wondered if the conversion from a smaller organic form to a larger mechanical one had weakened the energy, or if you could only use it in organic form, but it seems that you still possess the ability to use and direct the energy. This changes some things, but it is still up to you if you wish to use the energy and in what way, especially as we have some of the sparklings from the Fallen's ship, and some of our femmes have joined us." The medic shot a look at Optimus, who was smiling, lost in his recall of Elita's arrival when they were still on Earth, but who then returned his attention to the present conversation.

"Well, I guess as long as I get the time to live my life as well, I don't mind," Sam said. "And I guess as my own lifespan is longer than it was, I have time to do things I want to, so I can help if need be, you know, sparklings and healing and stuff."

"You will need quarters you can fit in added to your home," Optimus said. "I am sure if you request help, it will be given, and until then, you can stay in one of our guest accommodations. I have told your family where your assigned building is, and they all have remote buzzers so you know they are there and can let them in, or ask them to return another time. I hope you do not mind us 'taking the liberty' of arranging a place for you, as you might say."

"Not at all, thank you I haven't had time to think about that, and I'm glad that someone has," Sam said.

"We will tell you where your accommodation is, and then we must ask you to take your leave of us," Optimus said. "Soundwave and Thundercracker of the Decepticons are meeting to discuss the possibility of trade between our worlds, and I hope to suggest that they at least consider trade with the human worlds as well."

"Well, that has to be a good sign, right?" Sam said. "Perhaps they discovered during the evacuation that humans can be resourceful in times of need, and perhaps have found the company of both Autobots and humans tolerable at least?" Sam said.

"Perhaps, or it may be they are just investigating, but that is better than no dialogue at all," Optimus said. "Nothing may come of this, but the fact that the Decepticons themselves are willing to open dialogue on the subject is a good sign. Perhaps ancient hatreds can finally be put aside, and a new and fair Golden Age for both factions may be within reach."

"I hope so," Sam said. "I don't fancy battling being a major part of my new longer lifespan."

"We have already fought for a large portion of our lives," Optimus said. "Perhaps the Decepticons themselves are as tired of war as we are, and have decided that with their own world and resources, and their own rules, there is more profit for everyone in peace, rather than in conflict."

"I hope so," Sam said. "I'd like to explore near space and find out more about the other worlds and phenomena in our area."

"Indeed," Optimus said. "We Autobots were only passing through here when we were in this area of space, first in pursuit of the Cube, and then to find colony-suitable worlds for ourselves and humans. It would be nice to investigate the star systems and nebulae we ignored, for various reasons, on both those occasions." Optimus commed the co-ordinates of his accommodation to him, which Sam took as his cue to leave.

"Count me in when you go," he said, rising, and nodding to Optimus and then Ratchet, who had, except for at the beginning, had not voiced an opinion, but was a mech whom Sam knew had listened with his audio processors at maximum.

As he exited the Autobot office block, he saw Soundwave and Thundercracker approaching. Soundwave just inclined his head in acknowledgement as they passed, but Thundercracker put a hand out, catching Sam's wrist lightly, and Sam turned to face him. He blinked, having to re-adjust his gaze slightly downwards. It was something he was having to learn to do even with Optimus, and the two big Seekers Freefall and Shadowwing, because at 48 feet tall, Sam towered over them all.

"Sam, may I congratulate you on your new form," Thundercracker said. "May I ask how you achieved it?"

"I'm not sure myself," Sam said, truthfully but a bit warily, because any Decepticon acting this pally made him suspicious. "I didn't ask for this, I was too busy trying to cope with a traumatic amputation. Look, maybe we can make an appointment and we can discuss it sometime," Sam said. "You've got negotiations to attend, don't you? Oh, good luck with those by the way."

"Yes, I would like to discuss this, in the interests of scientific advancement and to satiate our own curiosity," the Seeker said, a green scanning beam springing out and playing over Sam's enormous form.

"Hey, do you mind?" Sam said.

"You object to being scanned?" Thundercracker asked. "Are you, perhaps, hiding something from us?"

"I object to not being asked first," Sam corrected.

"I apologise for not asking," Thundercracker said. "We will speak again some time, but as you pointed out, we currently have negotiations to attend." With that, he turned and he and Soundwave entered the Autobot office block. Sam huffed a little but decided to go and see how his parents were doing .

Thundercracker, in the meantime, was pleased with himself. He had thought that Sam might ask him to delete the scan, so had copied it, but there had been no need. He forwarded it on so it could be examined at leisure later.

He and Soundwave would start negotiations as planned, they might even gain some concessions and be able to put some pressure on the Autobots. It was, of course, highly likely that he and Soundwave would end up staying for an extended period of time, but that had been factored in and planned for. All that remained now was for Alice to work from her angle.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Mikaela was taking a rest from helping to move and stock-take the equipment rescued from Earth into a warehouse in the settlement when she spotted an unexpected, and unwelcome, figure heading in her direction.

"What are you doing here?" Mikaela asked Alice once the uncannily human-looking Decepticon came within talking distance.

"Thundercracker and Soundwave brought me here as an extra negotiator if needed, in case some of the human negotiators would find it easier talking to me, as I look more like they do. So far, however, there has been no need. I said I could take a look around for things we might be interested in trading." She indicated the warehouse. "Such as some of the stuff you have here. Mind if I look? You can accompany me if you want, we can talk as I take inventory. If our worlds will be trading, it might be best if some of the inhabitants are on talking terms." She flashed Mikaela a smile and held out her hand to her. "Friends?"

"We'll see, but lets go with acquaintances for now," Mikaela said, taking Alice's hand warily and shaking it. "But if you're gonna take inventory, as that is what I'm doing, you can help bring some of this stuff in as well." She stood up and moved over to the pile, picking up a box, and Alice nodded and did likewise.

"So, how are you and your family?" Alice asked Mikaela as they walked into the warehouse with their burdens.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam sent an hour or so with his parents, and then decided to head back and see his and Mikaela's children and grandchildren. He sent a signal to the communication console at the warehouse so he could arrange to meet her, and she told him she had been taking stock at the warehouse but could meet him nearby. He went to the edge of town by a curiously-shaped rock that served as a landmark.

Mikaela arrived five minutes later, looking a little dirty and dishevelled but smiling.

"Alice is here, came in case they needed another negotiator, apparently, but as they didn't, she was asked to find things the Decepticons might be interested in trading for. So I guess she's optimistic about the trade discussions." She paused to climb into Sam's hands as he crouched down to her. "I got her to help move some of the stuff, if she wants to inventory stuff, she can help me move it. Turns out they did want her, so she had to go, but with her help I got a bit more than I had hoped moved in today, so I thought I'd take a break and spend some time with you, which we haven't had since you arrived."

"So, what do you want to do with this time?" Sam asked her. "Spend it with the family?"

"No, I was thinking you and I could explore the area beyond where we've settled, you know, see some of this planet for the first time, it'll be fun. I can sit on your shoulders and maybe get some photos on my cell. Did I tell you Ratchet upgraded the camera so the pictures will be ultra detailed? I guess not, when have we had time to talk?"

"Your phone doesn't work without a network, does it?" Sam asked."

"Not for communications, but it's camera still works," she said. "Sam, let's head out, we need to talk, you know?"

"Okay," Sam said, striding off away from the settlement, guessing that this would be the talk about where their relationship would go from here.

"Put me on your shoulder so I can see better, Sam," she reminded him, taking out her cell and turning the camera function on. Sam moved his hands to his shoulder but stopped walking until she had found herself a secure perch at the neck/shoulder junction to jam herself into, and then he continued walking, while she began taking shots of the unexplored lands beyond.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

The opening negotiations seemed to be going well, and Ratchet decided to call a quick break so he could check that he wasn't needed anywhere else for his medical skills, although with First Aid and Freewheeler amongst them, anything bar a serious issue could be dealt with by them. He suggested a joor's break, and he and Optimus went out, introduced the two Decepticons to the recreation area, and made sure all were aware that the two 'Cons were there with permission. Optimus stayed with the two visitors, and Ratchet checked the med bay, only to find that the only injuries were indeed minor ones that the others could deal with.

He decided to check on the status of the inventory of technology they had either bought or rescued from Earth. It might be useful to know what they had in surplus, what they needed more of, and what they needed but didn't have so they knew what they needed to prioritise making. He cursed, not for the first time, that Mikaela was human, and he couldn't com her, and her phone would not be usable for communication until they got a suitable network up. He headed off to the warehouse, to find Mikaela and find how she was doing.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

"Thank you for the hospitality, but Soundwave and I would like some air, I myself would like a flight and I believe Soundwave may also," Thundercracker said. Optimus nodded and walked out with the two, although Thundercracker wasted no time, running and firing his thrusters, Soundwave, - who had taken a flighted form on this occasion – followed him. Optimus sighed, hoping they wouldn't have second thoughts, because the negotiations were going smoother than he had hoped. The Decepticons had even agreed to consider negotiations with some of the humans on some of their worlds.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Ratchet decided to look in the logical place to find Mikaela, by the warehouse and items. She wasn't immediately apparent, so he walked into it, sending the electronic password to unlock the doors, scanning for humans. There was only one human reading, female, coming from near the back, and Ratchet headed there, expecting to find Mikaela at the back.

He couldn't see her where he expected her to be, and the puzzled Ratchet began checking shelving, wondering if she were trapped, or had wriggled into a space to obtain something awkward to reach.

Calling her name, he advanced into the warehouse.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam felt Mikaela shift position on his neck as he moved towards some interesting weathered rock formations. He felt her lean towards him, using an arm on his head to steady herself. He felt something tickle at the dataports at the back of his head, but didn't worry, just thought it prudent to warn Mikaela.

"Don't touch there, it's sensitive, you're tickling me," he said absent-mindedly.

Then he felt a pain as a long, narrow needle suddenly pushed into a port. He turned his head to find himself looking at Mikaela...who had grown a mechanical tail?

"Alice!" he said, realising who his passenger actually was. She responded with an energy pulse down her tail that would immediately shut him down temporarily. He felt his knees give way, and then hit the ground a moment later.

As he fell, his vision dimmed and then his consciousness fled.


	4. Chapter 4

Persephone.

Chapter Four.

A/N: Special thanks are due to (in no particular order) XRaiderVI, Rian Moreu, ChronoSeth, and Akuma-River for leaving me reviews for this story, assuring me that there is still interest in it. Thanks again!

Ratchet rounded the corner, genuinely concerned for Mikaela now. His scans indicated that she - or a human female of her age and mass - was somewhere in the warehouse, but he couldn't see her. Narrowing his scans, he managed to pinpoint an area behind some sheets of metal and crates. Carefully, as to avoid unintentionally injuring her, he began removing the obstructing material.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

As Sam collapsed, Alice held on, sending commands down her data linkage to keep Sam under until needed. She sent a com, consisting of a single musical note, to Skywarp, who was waiting for this as the signal that she had succeeded. He warped in, took hold of her and Sam, and warped back out with them. Then, leaving Alice to secure Sam, he went back and carefully erased any tracks leading out to the desert.

Yes, they would miss Sam, but with some luck, not for some time yet, and they would attempt to cover their tracks to buy some time.

He went back to the ship, where Alice had picked up something, and quietly warped her round the back of the warehouse before warping back to the transport vehicle, which he began to ready for launch.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

As Ratchet began lifting off the last piece of plate, he found Mikaeka, unconscious, with a cut to her head and a piece of smaller, pre-shaped plating nearby, its edge slick with her blood. At that moment, he heard footsteps, and a voice.

"Mikaela, I went to our vessel to find you some food, we were thinking we could trade it, and you could try it - Oh, what happened?" Alice rounded the corner, holding a container. "She said she'd check under there when I offered to get food, I was only gone ten minutes, I didn't think she's get hurt!"

"She's a little concussed, but she is coming around, perhaps she can tell us what happened?" Ratchet said, narrowing his eyes a fraction at the human-looking Decepticon. He didn't trust her, not at all.

He returned his attention to Mikaela as she groaned, and her eyelids fluttered open. She tried to get up, but Ratchet opened his hand over her body, pinning her down, running a scanning beam from his eyes over her prone form.

"No, don't try to get up, I'll call for help to get you to the med bay. What happened, Mikaela? You've got a cut and a lump on the back of your head.

"I.. I'm not sure. Um...I mentioned that I was hungry, and Alice said she could get food, but I can't remember what happened after that, sorry."

Ratchet nodded, some memory loss was not uncommon after such an injury, and she should remember within a few days. He reached out to the plating, dipping his finger in the still-moist blood and then raising the finger to his mouth. He licked at the blood on his finger and quickly ran an analysis.

There was no alcohol or pharmaceuticals in Mikaela's blood, but there was a low concentration of sugar, which, it was true, could have contributed to her possibly not being so aware of her surroundings, or slow to react. The piece of plating was one of several identical ones on a shelf above so it was conceivable that it was just an accident, but Ratchet still didn't trust Alice. He would reserve judgment for now, but when Mikaela remembered more, he'd see what she said then.

Ratchet sent a com for Freewheeler to bring a human back-board so he could continue to keep her in a supine position. His initial scans registered no spinal trauma, but he saw no harm in being a little over-cautious at this stage.

"My scans indicate that you are concussed, Mikaela, but there appears to be no obvious spinal injury. I want you to stay lying down till we get the back-board here, which we can use to transport you to the medical unit." His scans registered the gathering stomach spasm as Mikaela suddenly went pale, and he quickly used two gentle fingers to roll her on to her side as she was suddenly and violently sick.

Freewheeler turned up with the back board, and Ratchet carefully lifted Mikaela on to it before lifting it in his hands and heading for his medical building. He was followed by Freewheeler and Alice, but he didn't seem to notice or care. He'd treat his patient, and that came first.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Once he had the transport ready to launch, Skywarp moved out the crates of food they had brought. They did still hope they could still do some trading, even when Sam was found to be missing, and if they could delay their obvious connection for a bit, it would help. He saw Soundwave and Thundercracker flying about in the sky, and waited till they had cleared the immediate air space before igniting the ship's thrusters.

Once the ship had cleared the atmosphere, he set it on autopilot, and then went through to check on Sam. Starscream was already beside the recharging unit they had managed to squeeze him into, the controls ensuring an enforced rest until they reached their destination.

"I have confirmed Thundercracker's scans, Skywarp, and yes, we were correct in our assumptions, the readings suggest that he does possess AllSpark energy. Our instincts were, it seems accurate, the Autobots _have_ been holding out on us again."

Starscream had already done some necessary adjustments: disabling Sam's spacebridging ability, disconnecting his com system and weapons, locking down the force-shielding that stopped him melting anyone within three feet of him, and disabling the thrusters he used to fly as a robot.

Once sure he was secure and would not rouse, they went back through to the control room as the transport headed for Decepticon New Cybertron.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

When Sam became aware again, he did so with a rapidity and a clarity that he was still getting used to. He remembered Alice's unexpected attack, mentally cursing himself that he didn't immediately have suspicions when 'Mikaela' had first told him Alice was present. He was aware that he was seated, and could feel a metal band around his chest. He unshuttered his optics and took stock of his situation.

He was at one end of a room which contained a raised platform, which the seat he was in seemed to be atop. There were other seats in rows, arranged in front of the raised area, and a big space at the back, where there was also a large door. Accessing his systems, he first found himself unable to send or receive communications, and then discovered he was unable to spacebridge.

Sam put his hand up to the restraining bar about his chest, pulling at it, but whatever it was made of had to be immensely strong, for he couldn't even put a scratch or dent in it. The chair he was confined to by the band was a work of art itself, for it closely resembled polished wood. There was not a sharp angle in sight, but was ridged and bumpy to touch and view, and on the surface it had seemingly random segments that shone with different shades of brown and bronze and brassy hues, but when he touched the arm, it felt like metal.

At the edge of the platform was a small filigree surround, with a gap in the middle large enough for most Cybertronians to pass through without catching their feet on it. There appeared to be not much else in the room in question, and he was certainly the only person present in the room.

"Hello?" he asked, wondering if the room was monitored. If he was now a Decepticon prisoner, which was the only theory that made sense, it seemed likely they would be watching him.

He was answered by the sound of a lock disengaging, and as he watched, the door at the end opened, and Starscream and Barricade came in.

"What am I doing here? Why have you done this? Let me go!" Sam said, clawing at the restraint around his chest.

"Hello to you too, Sam, how nice to see you again," Starscream said amicably. "May I compliment you on your new frame, it is certainly imposing, and I am told you can fly, although not right now, we can't allow it at the moment, there is too great a risk you will run off."

"I thought you were hoping for trade relations with our world!" Sam said. "Was it all just a trick to get me?"

"Not all of it, Sam, just some of it. We do still hope to engage in trade with your world and maybe one or two of the human worlds, after all, if we are to flourish, we must find something to do other then battle. However, we must put the negotiations on hold, for if they are not already, Alice, Thundercracker, and Soundwave will soon likely be hostages, and we also need to sort out with the Autobots just why they have been holding out on us. It seemed they have learned nothing from the war!"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "Why will the others be hostages, and in what way do you think the Autobots have been holding out on you?"

"Soundwave and the others are back on your world, and once the other Autobots find you are missing, our three delegates are bound to be detained," Starscream said. "And the Autobits have not seen fit to inform us that you can still channel and use the energy of the AllSpark, first to change yourself, and then to change your Creators. Again, keeping the best and most useful resources for themselves."

"Hey, wait a minute," Sam said. "Before you start making accusations, it was _my_ decision not to tell you, and for another thing, I can't always control when or how the energy is expressed. Even earlier, before you kidnapped me, I planned to change my Dad, who was dying, into a mech, but the AllSpark Energy obviously had other ideas, and changed him into a much younger version of his organic form. And if you think I had any control, or even any input, over _this_ " - here he indicated his own body - "think again! I would have made a few changes, or even chosen a different form, but I didn't! I thought I was dying, passed out, and woke up like this, minus the cosmetic changes and paint job I have now!"

"But that's the other thing, Sam, some of us may be able to help you with that. Among some of those who have turned up on our world is a former AllSpark Guardian. They were individuals who served the AllSpark and helped with healing and EnSparking sparklings, and know more about the AllSpark than most, so they might be able to give you some ideas about how to best channel the energy."

Sam could not deny the interest he felt about that, he hoped he might get a chance to talk to any and all of those who had any knowledge, no matter how small or insignificant that might be, because he was certain that whatever they knew was more than he himself did, which was, to his mind, monumentally unfair as he was the one with the energy now living inside him. This was one thing he decided he would insist upon, because he was sick of being left in the dark about the energy, or the only person surprised by what the AllSpark was capable of.

"Sam, you just told me that it was your decision to not tell us. Would you mind expanding upon that and explaining how that came about and why?" Starscream asked him.

"Well, it came about after I first exhibited the abilities," Sam said. "It was a combination of factors. First of all, after a while the amount of incidents decreased to the point that Ratchet thought the energy might be building up in me so slowly that there was no set point at which we could be certain if I could use it or not. Ratchet theorised it might be using most of its energy to keep me looking fairly young, and only be expressed maybe one or two more times in my lifetime, unpredictably and uncontrollably, so there didn't seem much point in telling anybody else, not even Optimus Prime, at least not till I changed Miles so unexpectedly, " Sam said. "I asked the AllSpark to heal him of an illness that deformed his joints and left him in a lot of pain, but Miles had always wanted to fly, and it seems the AllSpark turned him into a Seeker," Sam explained when Starscream gave him a quizzical look. "I guess it did as I asked, and fulfilled his desire for flight, but I had no idea that would happen, that's how little control I have over it," Sam explained. "Yet it left my Dad human, when I had imagined him as a mech, not that he and Mum are complaining," he said, remembering his mortification at his parents acting like a pair of love-struck teenagers again.

"As for your second question, first of all, when this happened. It was as big a surprise to me as you, and for another thing, I thought if you knew, that you might try pulling a trick like this!" Sam said. "I didn't plan to start my new life bring hijacked and kidnapped, and kept from my family. And you wondered why I didn't want you to know?" He paused, and changed tack slightly.

"I probably guessed you'd find out sooner or later, but you had representatives there for the trade agreements. Why didn't you ask if we could all discuss this back on Autobot New Cybertron?" he asked. "You must know by now that Optimus Prime has more integrity than your corrupt Senators? Surely something could have been worked out? I'm sure we could have made some sort of arrangement, perhaps once I worked out how to channel it, and even if I can channel it the way you want me to?"

"But that would have taken time, a great deal of time, I am guessing, and we have people here who cannot wait for the months it would likely take," Starscream said. As he spoke, his head came up, and his optics flashed briefly. Sam was now familiar enough with the Autobots and how they reacted that he could guess, with a high degree of accuracy, that Starscream was receiving a com.

"In fact, Sam, some of them are so urgent that they have been brought to you now."


	5. Chapter 5

Persephone.

Chapter Five.

Sam would have stood if he could have, but the strap across his chest prevented him from rising to his feet.

"Hey, wait a minute! I haven't agreed to do or be party to whatever you're planning! I don't know if I can direct it, and I object to being restrained against my will!" Sam said, trying again to pull away the metal band that held him to the chair, and making as little progress as he had earlier. He heard the doors open, and saw a small phalanx of Cybertronians enter and approach.

"Oh, that?" Starscream replied casually, as if this was the first time Sam had mentioned it. "That's not a restraint as such, Sam, it's just a strap to hold you in, it's a recharge chair, and using the strap means you don't have to lock your legs or frame during recharge. We don't have any recharge chambers or recharging berths big enough to fit you yet, so this chair is a temporary solution that our craftmechs collaborated on to make for you. Work is in progress on a recharge chamber that is adequate for that oversized, ancient frame of yours, but until it is completed, you have this." He reached and pointed at a round, bronzed nub on one of the arms, unremarkable in appearance, looking just like any other decorative embellishment on the seat he sat in.

"Once you don't need it any more, just press on that, and the strap will retract until it is needed again."

As Starscream pulled his finger back. Sam used his own to press down on the indicated convex protrusion. There was a muted click, and Sam felt the restraining band separate and retract back into the rear of the chair, at about the same time as he heard the first bars of a totally alien yet beautiful music beginning to fill the room.

As Starscream stepped back behind him, Sam's audio pickups helped him to triangulate the source of the sound, and he turned his head to the right, expecting to see a speaker, or perhaps a mech like Soundwave, playing a piece of pre-recorded music. Instead, his optics roved over the interior of the previously empty-looking building until they lit upon a figure sat upon a curved and shaped stool. His optics took in the figure of a mech, seated on the stool, half-cradling a bizzare-looking piece of equipment Sam assumed was some sort of musical instrument, being played by - Sam did a double-take when he recognised the musician.

Sam had no idea where he'd got the stool or when he had sat on it, but he was there, the instrument's bottom edge resting in the mech's lap, while the top half was held almost lovingly by the musician. Hands Sam had only seen lifted to terrorise and destroy pressed keys with an odd but precise delicacy, while the claws on his other hand plucked and strummed a series of strings, ranging from so fine that Sam could not see them, even with his improved vision, through to some as thick around as his pinky finger had been when he was a human. The red optics that had burned with inimical intent were now half-shuttered, as the musician concentrated on the performance of his art. As those dangerous-looking digits made a few more precise movements on the keys and strings, Sam found himself wondering if the hydraulic joints had been added when the mech had been war-modded into his present form, or if Barricade had had them installed pre-war for playing the amazing style of music Sam was now hearing. He shivered as he wondered if the hands were, by now, as equally used to destroying as creating.

He was pulled from his revere as he heard a voice ring out, closer to him than he was expecting.

"May I present to the assembly group, Samuel James Witwicky, new vessel and Chosen Bearer of the AllSpark. The extent to which he can channel the gifts and his abilities are still unknown, though it is believed he can help with the issues you bring to him. We believe he can help all of you who come in need. Advance, whoever is brave or unwell enough to go first."

Sam looked around for help, but Starscream was against the back wall, staring at the group who now stood before Sam's platform, and Barricade was fully immersed in his music. Sam swallowed, and looked towards the phalanx of Cybertronians, who had reached the bottom of his chair while he had been distracted.

The mech who had headed the phalanx was stood at the bottom of the platform, his arms extended and his hands splayed in a flourish in his direction. His base colour was red, but Sam could see oddly muted and truncated flourishes of gold here and there on his body. Sam had the feeling that at some time back in the distant past, the gold had been part of a larger and more intricate design.

Sam would have said the mech was a born showmaster, but his gestures conveyed respect as well as being showy. Sam had the strange feeling that if he was to refuse to co-operate, the red mech would acquiesce, and Sam was about to do exactly that when he saw the red mech move up onto the dais to support the first in line, and upon seeing him, Sam could not turn him away.

The arm about the other, brown mech was more about support than show, as the red mech moved beside the first in line, and he was obviously there for support physically as well as mentally, for the mech he was assisting appeared to be missing both feet, and half of one leg. The red mech allowed the other to loop an arm over his shoulders and accept his support, but Sam spotted his pleading optics a few astroseconds before this.

The injured mech had his other arm around his other helper's waist. The red mech was one helper, and a bright green mech was the other helper, whom Sam assumed the brown mech had arrived with, for Sam had the impression the red mech was assigned to him and the room, rather than being just the first mech in line.

Sam had not given any thought to the idea that as the Autobot-Decepticon war has started off Earth, that it had still been ongoing between mechs of both sides that had never clapped optics on the planet of his own birth. It was a thought brought forcefully home to him now, as he looked upon the broken, scarred, and blasted body of a mech Sam was surprised still lived.

As well as the missing feet and lower leg, the mech was also missing one lower arm, and while one optic winked on and off weakly, the other was completely dark. Much of what plating he still possessed was cracked, pitted and in places appeared to have been melted, and Sam winced as he saw semi-exposed wiring sparking deep within the mech's body. Someone had taped off some of the more exposed wiring, and appeared to have tried welding some of the cracks, and had tied off damaged tubing, but it was a temporary fix at best.

"He's too badly damaged to risk operating on," the mech's green helper explained. "He risks dying if they try, because although he's currently stable, increased stress could destabilise his systems, and it's too risky. Even being here is a risk, but he insisted."

"Bring him up here - no, wait, I'm coming down," Sam said, rising from the seat and doing just that. "Can any of you show me what he looked like undamaged, and what his name was?"

The green mech showed Sam a hologram and said "His name is Mudslide." Sam looked at the hologram, and fixed the image in his mind. Then he reached out, took Mudslide from the helpers into his own arms, and shuttered his optics as he held the damaged mech close, and imagined him being mended of the damage he had seen, the metal smoothing, damaged parts repairing and becoming whole and functional, wires repairing and connecting and working as they should. He thought to himself, in a small, separate part of his processors, _'I hope this works.'_

He heard a soft crackle, and didn't need to unshutter his optics to know that his desperate hope was not unfounded. He felt his hands and arms grow warm, and felt that warmth transfer itself from his limbs to the body of the mech he was cradling in his arms. He heard the mech's green companion gasp, felt the mech in his arms grow heavier, and felt the mech's servos tensing, and the sounds of his patient's systems wind down from an overstressed whine to a well-tuned purr.

Sam opened his optics when Mudslide wriggled in his arms, a clear sign he wanted to be put down. He did so, Mudslide's new feet easily taking the weight of his newly repaired body, which no longer showed any signs that he had ever been in combat. He looked far healthier than when he had first arrived, his head held up straight, and both optics burning bright and steady. He looked around himself in amazement, down at the new feet first, then up to his hands, one repaired and one entirely replaced, raising them both to trace his face and chest, as if unable to believe that the smooth plating and unblemished features were really his. He then raised his optics to Sam in a mixture of wonder and delight, before, to Sam's abject embarrassment, he bowed low at Sam's feet.

"Hey, aw, no, don't do that!" Sam said.

"I am most grateful to receive the AllSpark's favour and healing," Mudslide said. "I promise to use this second chance I have been given wisely."

"Well, maybe not fighting anymore would be a good start," Sam said, wishing the mech would get up from his subservient position."After all, you and the other Decepticons or neutrals now have your own world, untouched and unplundered, with no shortage of raw material for resources, and the right to govern yourselves. This world will become what you, and everyone else, makes it." Sam paused, a bit embarrassed, hoping he hadn't come across as too 'preachy'.

The mech nodded in agreement.

"What you say makes sense," he said. "I will go and find out what skills I have that may be useful." He rose to his feet, and then bowed from the waist, before turning and taking his leave of Sam, his green friend also bowing to Sam before scurrying after Mudslide.

Sam, very aware that he seemed to be the tallest person in the building, took his seat again. He didn't particularly like his raised position, and the chair looked, to Sam's optics and human sensibilities, rather throne-like, which he wasn't wild about either, but he had to admit that by sitting in it, he didn't loom over the others.

The next to approach was a smaller and more gracile figure, and Sam, having seen the members of Elita's team, recognised this one to be a femme. What he didn't recognise was the crumpled mass of metal in her arms.

"He was hit by a stray missile during a skirmish that broke out just before I reached this world. I managed to get him away, but I fear the damage is so great it may be irreparable, and I fear his Spark grows weak," she said. Sam was alarmed to see energon beginning to run from her optics, from fine seams, and from numerous other points on her body. Sam had only seen this once before, and recalled Ratchet had explained it as stress causing fine energon conduits to burst. Sam didn't know if self-repair could keep up with the damage or not, but he wasn't going to hesitate and find out. He reached out his hands as the femme came up to the platform, and right up to the foot of his chair. As he put together his cupped hands, she gently deposited the metal form in them.

Up close, he could see that what she had been holding was a tiny robotic body, more simple than most, but otherwise recognisable as a Cybertronian form. Then he became aware, almost instantaneously, that the tiny robot was what was known as a 'sparkling', a very young Cybertronian, and he could see how badly damaged it was. It barely moved, looking even tinier in his cupped hands, and as fresh energon welled up around the femme's optics and on her body, he didn't even have to concentrate on the task at hand. His cupped hands filled with blue light which surrounded and covered the little mech he held, before it seemed to drain away, leaving behind the same metal form, but with all its damage healed, which clicked, wriggled to a seated position and then stood unsteadily in Sam's hands, before lifting its head to regard him with big red optics. Sam had never thought he'd find anything with red optics remotely cute, but he couldn't deny that this tiny mech was just that. He extended his hands out and spread them, allowing the femme to take hold of the squirming, clicking sparkling. He touched her with one finger, and there was a brief flare of blue, which sealed the leaking energon conduits instantaneously.

The femme hugged her sparkling, stammered out a thanks, and then she bowed, before transferring the little mech to one arm and crouching to plant a kiss on one of Sam's many toes, making Sam feel uncomfortable all over again. Before he could tell her to get up, please, she did get up, thanked him again, and left, hugging her sparkling tight.

The last mech to approach did so slowly, in a fashion Sam had seen before. His progress was slow, and to Sam it was obvious that his joints did not have the range of mobility they should. Sam, falling back on the manners he had learned as a human, got to his feet and moved aside, offering the obviously elderly mech his seat. The mech at first refused, but when Sam insisted, and said 'please', he acquiesced, and sank onto the seat with barely concealed relief.

"Thank you for the courtesy,' the mech said. "I have come to this world as an architect, hoping to use my experience to benefit those who live here. I helped design and build some of the structures on Old Cybertron, so I figure that I may be old, but that doesn't mean I cannot be useful. My designs have been gratefully accepted, and I have been invited to come and view and approve the structures as they are being built, but the stiffness of my joints and the roughness of the surrounding terrain makes it almost impossible for me to do so. I could ask to have all my joints replaced, but it would be a long and complicated process, even without a shortage of trained medics and craftmechs. Making me a complete new body and transferring my Spark and memories would run into the same problems. What craftmechs and medics we have are already busy enough healing the war-injured we have, and more arrive every day, and their needs are greater than mine. I understand if you think I've lived my life already and had my chance, but I thought I could at least ask."

"It's not so much me as the AllSpark energy," Sam explained. "Sometimes it seems to have a mind of it's own." Sam was unsure himself if the AllSpark would react to a non life-limiting condition. It had, however, healed Jetfire in the same way, albeit while restoring him to life, so there was still hope. "I'm willing to give it a try, though, if you are."

"Worse case scenario, nothing happens," the ancient mech replied. "Let's give it a try, shall we?"

Sam bent down and placed one of his own large hands on the mech's chest, fingers splayed. The mech shuttered his optics, and Sam briefly did the same, long enough to convey his wishes to the AllSpark. He hoped the AllSpark would see the parallels with Jetfire, hoped it would see that this mech still had much to offer, especially on this new world, in spite of (or maybe because of) his age, hoped it would understand that his decreased mobility was, in fact, a source of suffering for this mech, hoped that...

He felt his hand warm up, and opened his optics to see blue light flare under his hand and envelop the mech he touched. Sam realised that the AllSpark understood perfectly. It had likely, Sam thought, sparked this mech itself, and likely knew and understood its needs and desires more than Sam himself, and obviously agreed with everything Sam was thinking at it. As Sam felt the power subside and the light faded, he looked at the mech as he removed his hand.

The mech appeared visibly energised, his optics shining and much of his previously-dulled paintwork was shining too. He jumped - literally jumped - out of the chair with a cry of glee, and then turned to give Sam a heartfelt embrace. No mind that his shoulders were level with Sam's hips, he just threw his arms around Sam's torso, squeezing so hard that Sam's plating creaked.

"It worked! Thank you, Bearer of the AllSpark, and thank you to the AllSpark inside of you!" he said. Then he released Sam, bowed, and left a lot faster than he had entered, much to Sam's relief, for he had been wondering how many embarrassing incidents he was going to have to endure.

"That's everyone for today," the nameless red mech told him as he stepped up. "We didn't want to risk building too much hope, so we just brought a few today. Tomorrow, we'll try a few more."

Sam was relieved to hear that there was nobody else to see that day, but couldn't help wondering what was going to happen now.

A/N: The idea of Barricade as a composer is my own, and is, as such, my intellectual property. Thus I request that if you want to use the idea yourself, please ask me for permission first.

Please check out my profile, which is now being updated pretty frequently, for news of my writing and other news, opinions, and requests of mine.


	6. Chapter 6

Persephone.

Chapter Six.

A/N: Not sure how often I'll be able to update after this, see my profile for a little more detail.

Autobot New Cybertron.

A/N: 1 vorn = 83 human years. 1 joor=about 6.5 human hours.

The negotiations resumed once the filers returned from their aerial pursuits and had recharged or spent time relaxing on the planet. Alice joined Soundwave and Thundercracker in the meeting room for negotiations. The Decepticons had presented the organic foodstuff that they said grew in abundance in certain regions of their world, and once they had been checked and cleared for toxins, they were offered as part of the materials they would trade. A few passing willing humans were asked to act as guinea pigs, and the taste tests were a success, adding to the value both in taste and in nutrition for the organic residents of Autobot New Cybertron.

Both sides had items that they had in abundance, but were wanted or needed by the other, hence the negotiations. A surprising one was jewellery, which a craftsmech on Decepticon New Cybertron had created, small enough for humans to wear and to appreciate. It had taken off amongst some of the humans on Autobot New Cybertron, and some had been sent to relatives on some of the human owned worlds. There was now great demand for the jewellery on the human-owned worlds, and large amounts of raw materials were offered in to return for the items made by this mech. Ratchet found the human penchant for pretty trinkets, and what they were willing to trade for them, quite amusing.

Ratchet himself had made a significant contribution to the trade items; he had, with a couple of craftmechs, produced a medical drone that could be introduced to a Cybertronian body to repair damage deep inside without the need for more invasive procedures. They could be programmed to be autonomous, or to be guided by a Cybertronian medic. With help, Ratchet had mass-produced them, anticipating demand with the expected amount of war-damaged mechs arriving, and found his output exceeded the rate at which he was using the drones. He deliberately produced a reasonable surplus for himself, and then channelled the industry of himself and his mechs into creating a surplus to be used for trade. He suspected that his minimally-invasive repair drones would be in demand by both sides for a long time yet.

It was midway through the second set of negotiations that Optimus thought that Sam, with his almost-unique spacebridging ability, would be beneficial to, and wish to know about, possible negotiation opportunities. He tried to com the human-turned-Cybertronian, and was surprised to find that his com wasn't just unreceptive, but with no echo, appeared to be completely offline. In cases like that, the recipient was either out of range, or totally unconscious, the latter signifying a medical emergency in a mech. If he had spacebridged out of range, it meant Optimus could not even leave him a request to call him back when he came back in range. However, Optimus had a feeling that something was wrong, and experience had taught him that on the rare occasions he got such a feeling, he was usually right to be concerned.

'Miles, could you check the settlement and surrounding areas for Sam? He may need assistance. His comms appear to be either offline or out of range. I am concerned he may have run into an unforeseen or undiscovered hazard on our new world.' Optimus asked their newest resident Seeker.

'Sure thing, Prime!' Miles said, having quite quickly adapted to being a Cybertronian, and accepting Optimus as his CO, despite being classed as a neutral. He had actually been keen to become an Autobot, but Optimus had asked him to wait for a few hundred years before making that decision.

"As a neutral, you are still entitled to our protection, and can contract yourself to us for non-military service, such as search and rescue, or seek and locate, but would not be expected to engage in combat."

"I thought you and the Decepticons were at truce, and have been for several years? Miles asked, puzzled.

"We are, but it is still a fragile truce, although we hope to make it stronger and more permanent, but even if we do, it is likely that not all the Autobots and Decepticons out there are aware of the truce, and some may choose not to honour it. I do not want you to become a casualty of a trigger happy Decepticon who does not know or does not accept that we are at truce. Most Autobots, and many Decepticons, will not automatically fire on a neutral, but with Autobot faction insignia, you would be seen as a valid target." Miles had admitted that what Optimus was saying made sense, and had remained factionless.

During the commed exchange, Optimus had continued to negotiate without missing a beat in the conversation, planning to return to issues that might be sweetened by Sam's spacebridging ability. Jetfire was the only other to still possess that ancient build's ability, (although Skywarp possessed a very much limited, basic version), and as he was now a self-declared Neutral, and had expressed a desire to go exploring, the Decepticons could not rely on him to give them that edge. With Sam, it meant the Autobots would have, at worst, if Jetfire joined the Decepticons and chose to use his ability for their benefit, an equal advantage in transportation.

A few hours later, Miles got back to Optimus with a worrying conclusion.

'I've checked out all of the places Sam is known to go and a good few he isn't, and I've checked around the settlement to a distance of ten miles, scanning for Spark energy and using thermal sensors. Either he's still airborne somewhere, or he's no longer on the planet, and I believe if Sam planned to leave, he would have informed someone, but nobody I've asked has heard anything,'

'Thank you,' Optimus replied, and turned back to the negotiations, putting his hand up to ask for their silence.

"I would like to call for a break," he said "but I wish to speak to the three Decepticon negotiators about a separate issue, one for which I may need to request their aid."

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

"We do not know how the AllSpark Energy affects you, and had been warned that your control of it might not be adequate, but from what I saw, your control of it lived up to expectations," the red mech told Sam.

"It has rarely done what I expected it to before," Sam explained, and the red mech nodded his head sagely.

"It has been documented that sometimes the AllSpark has done something different to what is physically asked for, and further research and investigations suggest that it is often the feelings of the mech or femme involved, or a need they have, that affect it's expression. In your case, it may be that your feelings are either reinforcing your request, or that the other person's feelings override or augment your request."

"Well, you're the one with the knowledge. What will I be expected to do next?" Sam asked.

"We have other injured who might benefit from your aid in healing their broken bodies, and in some cases, broken minds," the red mech said, "but we might see if you can help with some of the hatchlings."

Sam was about to ask what hatchlings were, for he had heard of sparklings but not hatchlings, when the knowledge again fed itself into his brain. Sam was not sure if this was knowledge The Fallen had possessed that was now becoming available as he needed it, or if the AllSpark was giving him the knowledge, but either way, he understood what hatchlings were as opposed to sparklings.

Hatchlings were sparklings that had been cocooned in a thin but rigid membrane with energon. They had grown a little and developed in this energon, and were meant to 'hatch' when they reached a certain stage. But the cocoons were meant to have been resupplied with fresh energon, presumably from the harvested sun, and without it, they had fallen into a forced hibernation to save energy.

"What is wrong with the hatchlings?" Sam asked, alarmed. Although they were technically much older than he, their developmental level was below his, so to him they were still children.

"When we help them to hatch, so they can receive more energon to continue their development, many seem not to thrive. Some of them go offline within an orn of being taken out of their cocoons. We think it may be something to do with being in stasis for so long. They were meant to have hatched thousands of years after all, and have been barely surviving with minimal energy."

"Are any at risk right now?" Sam asked.

"No, but there are some we would like to bring to you tomorrow, as they are showing signs of decline," the red mech said.

"Yes, bring them tomorrow, the worst off first, and then bring them in batches of five. Tomorrow, I think I should see what the AllSpark has got, I'll heal as many of them as I can," Sam said in a determined tone of voice. "And then I want to know as much as you can remember about the AllSpark."

"Very well," the red mech said. "You should take a short recharge to make sure you have as much energy as possible, we will leave to facilitate your rest." He waved at Barricade, who caught the movement and brought his music to a swift but melodic halt. He stood, turned to Sam, and to Sam's surprise, bowed to him, before putting his instrument into a case and leaving via the building's door. The red mech nodded to Sam, and turned to follow the musician.

Sam felt compelled to stop the mech, and he reached out to catch him by the arm. "Wait," Sam said. The red mech turned towards him, and it was at that moment that Sam's hand lit up with blue light. Blue tendrils of AllSpark energy snaked out from his hand, and rather than engulfing the entire mech as had happened when the AllSpark was healing, it spread almost organically, curving and dividing, branching, like a fern or a creeper. It wound and spiralled up the arm and then branched again as it spread down the body and the other arm, and up to the head, and then divided yet again to swirl down both legs. The mech appeared wreathed in a glowing, spiralling pattern of blue light, as if some alien plant were growing about him. Where it traced, the red paintwork around it brightened and looked shiny and new. Then a few seconds later the light retreated back the way it had come, but where it had spread and looped and spiralled, it left behind a lustrous gold tracery.

As the last of the light retreated back to Sam, and he lifted his hand away to stare at it as if he had never seen it before, the mech lifted his own hands, raising one to stare at while the other traced the renewed gold patterning on his body, for Sam noticed that the light had, without exception, traced over the faded gold fragments Sam had earlier noticed. Then the mech turned to Sam, and took one of Sam's hands in both of his own before dropping to one knee. Unlike the earlier mech and femme, this one kept his head raised, looking Sam directly in the optics, before he began to speak.

"I, Lightburst, do re-swear my oath of allegiance to the AllSpark, and the one who now bears it, in recognition and acceptance of the visual proof of my re-acceptance by the AllSpark as one of it's sworn Guardians. I recognise and accept these colours as proof of the renewal of the covenant I made with the AllSpark on Cybertron. As one of the AllSpark's chosen and accepted Guardians, I promise to serve it, and it's chosen bearer, to the best of my ability. I promise to guide, guard, direct and protect as asked or as needed, even if such requires the sacrifice of my own Spark to do so. This I swear, witnessed by the AllSpark, and it's chosen bearer." The mech - Lightburst - then dropped Sam's hand and stood, and Sam had to admit he made an imposing and awe-inspiring sight, gleaming gold and red under the lights of the room.

Although the wording was long, and in places a bit clumsy, Sam did notice the formality of the wording, and suspected that Lightburst had spoken at least some of that wording before, perhaps adapting an existing oath to fit the new circumstances. He decided to not just wonder, but to ask.

"Was that an official declaration?" Sam asked. "I mean is it based on something that already existed? That has been used before, on Cybertron?"

"Of course," Lightburst said, as if surprised that Sam had to ask. "All Guardians swore two versions of the original oath, the first, when they registered to continue and complete their training, and the second, more permanent and binding, when they were given their colours."

Although he was tired, Sam was intrigued, his recharge, he decided, could wait.

"The first oath wasn't binding?" he asked.

"Binding enough that it was not something you undertook lightly, which is why all prospective trainees had to complete a quarter of the training before they made the first oath. It can only be broken if the Candidate chooses not to complete their training, or their trainer deems them unsuitable. Then the oath can only be voided by the AllSpark, a Circle head, or a Prime. Entering into the AllSpark's service is not something to be done lightly, and every prospective trainee had this made very clear to them."

"Circle head?" Sam asked.

"There were two layers of Guardians around and inside the Great Dome, where the AllSpark was kept. Outside the Dome were the Outer, or Blue Circle, and inside the Dome were the Inner, or Red Circle." He indicated his own red paintwork. "In general, the newer trainees started as Blue, although sometimes the AllSpark had other ideas, turning them red, or giving them red flashes along with the gold, and the Circles were not always fixed. If there was a shortage in one, some from the other could be temporarily reassigned, and sometimes the circles were arranged decoratively, with the two colours interspersed for visual effect, red, blue, red, blue, and so on. Each Circle had a head and a deputy, who acted as Circle Head if the Circle Head was not there. It was common to switch the final-vorn trainees between the two Circles, before they took their final vow and were given their colours, to gain experience both in and out of the Dome. On that subject, a couple of mechs who were trainees when the AllSpark was blasted off-planet have made it here, I'd like to bring them to assist after your recharge."

"Sure, makes sense, I guess," Sam said. "Perhaps you can tell me more later, but I should get that recharge in. Would you show me how to use this thing?" He asked, indicating the chair. Lightburst nodded, helping Sam deploy the strap, then showing him how to programme the time he'd be in recharge.

"I recommend a joor, that's about six and a half human hours," Lightburst said, and when Sam nodded assent, showed him how to enter the time on a keypad cunningly hidden under a sliding bit of metal on the chair's other arm.

"Thanks," Sam said as Lightburst started the recharge cycle, standing and watching as Sam dropped into recharge. Then Lightburst moved to stand in front of the steps up to Sam's chair, set his proximity sensors, and entered a light recharge himself, to conserve energy while guarding Sam as he had promised.


	7. Chapter 7

Persephone.

Chapter Seven.

A/N: speech _'like this'_ is commed speech. Dr Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo on this site and is used with her permission.

Sam was a little disorientated when he came out of recharge, for at first it felt like no time had passed, but a quick check of his internal chronometer revealed it was 6.5 hours on from it's previous reading, or the 'joor' he recalled Lightburst calling it. Recharge, he reflected, was not quite the same as sleep, for he did not dream, or if he had, he did not recall the dreams. He did feel refreshed, but if it wasn't for that, and his internal time sense, he would have not known any time had passed at all. It was all new to him, disconcertingly so, but Sam supposed he would, in time, get used to it.

He found Lightburst waiting by his chair, with a small drinking cube of low-grade energon, and he drank it, grateful to do something almost normal. The door opened, and four mechs entered. Sam knew the lead two mechs, both Starscream and Barricade were unmistakeable, but the other two behind were not known to him. As Starscream took the same position against the wall as earlier, and Barricade sat and took out his instrument, the two unknown mechs approached.

"These are the trainees I told you about earlier," Lightburst said as they approached. As Barricade began to tune his instrument, they both approached and dropped into similar kneeling positions as Lightburst, and reiterated their oaths, which although they sounded similar, were indeed different to the permanent one Lightburst had given, and as they pledged their service to Sam and the AllSpark, they gave him their names. One, the deep blue mech, was called Boost, and the silver mech was called Speedway.

Sam looked up as Barricade began playing, a different but equally beautiful melody than last time.

"Do we have to have the music?" Sam asked. "I don't object, it's beautiful, but it seems a little, well, pretentious."

"Music was part of all ceremonies involving the AllSpark, sometimes musicians would write a piece of music as a gift to the AllSpark," Lightburst said. "There has been so much change for all of us here, we thought to keep what little we could constant, for those who come here. They are already traumatised by the events of the war, and we thought the familiarity might be beneficial to those who come here, but if you really don't want it, I can ask Barricade to leave."

"No, that's fine, what you say makes sense," Sam said, for it did, but he also didn't want to risk upsetting or offending Barricade. He didn't think Barricade would attack him for it, and even if he did, Sam knew Lightburst would protect him, but more than that, Sam did not want to hurt the composer's feelings. They might have been enemies once, and there was still the risk that they might be again in the future if relations broke down, but Sam felt no need or desire to be unnecessarily cruel.

As Sam retracted the band about his chest and sat a little straighter, a line of mechs came in, and the first advanced, and handed the hatchling to Lightburst, who brought it up the steps and presented it to Sam, placing the tiny form into his hands.

Sam drew his hands towards him, cupping the hatchling in one hand and resting one finger gently atop it. His hands lit up blue, and he could sense, via the AllSpark Energy that something was wrong, and wished it to be righted. His hands briefly flared brighter, and the hatchling in his hand began to move and wriggle, the torpor he had wrongly assumed was normal leaving it, and the hatchling becoming more alert and mobile. As the glow faded, Sam handed the hatchling back to Lightburst, who deftly handed it to the adult who had brought it. The hatchling twisted in it's adoptive Creator's hands, managing to free itself, and landed on it's pedes. With a rapid clicking Sam identified as laughter, the hatchling set off at a slightly unstable run, the adult who had brought it belatedly setting off after it in embarrassed pursuit. Sam found it amusing, watching as Lightburst told Boost and Speedway to assist.

A touch on his hand brought his attention back to the others in the room. Another adoptive Creator had used the distraction to climb the steps, holding out a similar inert-looking hatchling.

"If it be yours and the AllSpark's will, please make this one as healthy as that one down there," he asked. A quick glance assured him that the errant hatchling had been caught and reunited with it's overjoyed parental unit, and he put two fingers gently on the presented hatchling.

"You might want to take a tighter grip," he said as the fingers glowed blue. "If that last one was anything to go by, they become little wrigglers when they are healthy."

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Optimus led Soundwave, Thundercracker, and Alice to his office, finding them seats (a human nicety he had adopted) and drawing them each a drinking cube of low grade energon from the dispenser in his room (which Ratchet had told him he needed for just this purpose).

He went behind his desk, which was another human custom he had adopted, and sat in his own chair as he prepared what he wanted to say in his processors. He had no illusions about Soundwave; he could read minds, and was quite likely doing exactly that right now. As such, he would likely know what Optimus was going to say before it left his vocaliser, but that was not important, and Sam was.

"We are missing one of our number, Samuel Witwicky, who has recently become mechanical, like us. You saw him the other day, I am told, on the way to the negotiations. We have not surveyed all of this world in detail, and am concerned that he may have come to harm, perhaps from some hazard we are unaware of. I am wondering if I could ask for your assistance in trying to locate him, from the air" - here he looked at Thundercracker - "on the ground," - he looked at Alice - "and perhaps from space?" Here he looked at Soundwave, allowing his voice to rise in the interrogative tone that was common to both Cybertronians and humans when asking, politely, a question or a favour, and in this case, both. "If it is possible, your assistance would be appreciated."

Soundwave and his companions looked at each other, and Optimus saw their optics flash as they held a swift commed conversation, before Soundwave used another gesture common to humans and Cybertonians, and nodded.

"Assistance-requested, request-accepted," Soundwave said, obviously acting as spokesmech for them all. "First-recharge, then-assist." Optimus nodded, it was not an unreasonable request, they needed energy if they were to search, and he stood to lead them back to the med bay, where the recharge chambers were. As Ratchet efficiently assigned them chambers -Alice asked to go in a little later as she wanted to speak to Dr Syn, and see Mikaela - Optimus asked Miles to resume searching from the air until they took over. He did not allow himself to think beyond the search on Autobot New Cybertron until he was certain, via Ratchet, that Soundwave was in recharge, but once he was certain, he went back to his office for an extra layer of certainty, thought through his chosen actions and other possibilities.

It was already suspected that if Sam had gone off-planet willingly, and/or under his own power, he would have left word with someone. It seemed too convenient to Optimus' mind that the transport shuttle that had brought Alice and the other two to Autobot New Cybertron had left shortly after Sam had briefly met the Decepticon negotiating party. If the Decepticons, with Autobot aid, did not find Sam on-planet within 12 joors - just over 3 human days - Optimus would assume that Sam had left under duress, and that the Decepticons - or members of their faction - were likely to be responsible. He commed the spacecraft mech Cosmos, a recent arrival on their world, and asked him, Mirage, and Brawn to be on standby for 3 days' time, because if his suspicions were correct, and the Decepticons had taken Sam, he was likely to be on their new world.

Optimus may be an Autobot, and prefer to think the best of others, but he was not stupid.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Sam healed a mix of hatchlings and war-damaged mechs (and two equally war-damaged femmes) until his systems warned him that his energy levels were getting low, at which point Lightburst apologised to the waiting mechs, and, after gaining agreement from Sam, gave them a number that would ensure they were seen before any others after Sam's next recharge. Once they had left, Sam called over Lightburst, for the AllSpark, in it's own unique fashion, had expressed a concern about all the hatchlings, and it was making Sam feel very unsettled.

"Lightburst, can you have about ten hatchlings that seem unaffected by their long time in stasis brought by after I've dealt with that group we just sent off?" Sam asked. "The AllSpark Energy thinks that they might not be as well as they seem, based on how damaged the ones we have seen have been."

"Certainly," Lightburst said. Sam reflected that Lightburst had taken, with a straight face, something that Sam himself would have found difficult to get his head around even with his own unique personal knowledge of theAllSpark Energy. Then he recalled how Lightburst had described the AllSpark acting on emotions and desires, those of Guardians and of and the Cybertronian or human involved, and guessed that to Lightburst, the concept of the AllSpark having it's own opinion and mind was not an odd concept to the mech who was his only AllSpark Guardian.

Settling down to another joor of recharge after drinking another cube of low-grade (which Lightburst, who had fetched it, assured him would help Sam regain optimum energy after recharge) Sam hoped that the AllSpark's suspicion was correct, and that he could help the thousands of hatchlings damaged by too much stasis and too little energon over too long a time.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Ratchet accompanied Alice over to where Mikaela was sat up in bed, still recovering from her concussion. The Decepticon medic, Dr Syn was nearby. He'd arrived with Sam, on the Ark, but had not left when the Decepticon transport had blasted back off world. When he had expressed a desire to work, and to learn about humans, Ratchet had set him to helping some of the multitude of war-damaged Autobots and Neutrals that had been arriving on their world, and checking on and scanning Mikaela during her recovery.

She had still not recalled exactly how the accident had happened, but her account tallied with Alice's as far as she could recall, which was that Alice had left to get some food before whatever happened had happened. He would keep her in one further day, for safety, but then he would release her, because there seemed no untoward after-effects from the concussion, and Mikaela was getting fidgety. He was glad that Alice, when she had been able, had come to keep her company.

"Hi Mikaela," Alice said. "How are you feeling today?"

"Fine. Is there any news of Sam? Mikaela asked shortly.

"If there had been, Ratchet would have told you," Alice said.

"Sorry," Mikaela said, realising she'd snapped at the Decepticon for no good reason. "I'm just getting sick and tired of being cooped up in here with nothing to do!"

Ratchet ran a quick scanning beam over her, still couldn't find anything wrong, and made a quick decision.

"Mikaela, I'd prefer to keep you in longer, but my scans can find no good reason to, so I'm going to release you to go back home, or maybe stay with Sam's parents, because I still want you to take it easy, but I can't see any reason to keep you in, when you obviously feel much better."

"Thank God!" Mikaela said, throwing back the cover, grabbing for her clothes and heading for the human restroom Ratchet had made sure was in the medical building.

"Well, Alice, now we're no longer on Mikaela watch, do you want to come outside for half an hour?" Dr Syn asked. "You can bring me up to speed on the negotiations, and then I believe you've been offered the chance to recharge?"

"Yes," she said, and they walked out of the medical building, the Decepticon medic's optics flashing as the pair commed back and forth.

Little did Ratchet know they weren't just discussing the trade agreements...

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

 _'Okay, so what actually happened? I've been pretty much out of the loop, but Sam's missing, the transport vessel has gone, and you, Soundwave and Thundercracker are effectively stranded here. So tell me, what's going on, because this looks like what I would expect of a Starscream plan with a hefty dose of Soundwave subtlety.'_ Dr Syn said.

 _'Starscream thinks the Autobots have been holding out on us, and they have. Sam has and can control the AllSpark Energy, so they needed my help to kidnap Sam, but for that, I needed to borrow Mikaela's form, and needed to scan her and keep her out of the way until I had secured Sam. So I sneaked back in with that piece of plating, knocked her out, and put her into a hypnosis-included sleep, and made sure she'd not remember my return. I even planted a false memory of the piece falling for her to 'remember' if need be. I didn't mean to hit her so hard to make her ill!'_ Alice told the medic.

Dr Syn was one of the few who know that Alice was good at hypnosis, particularly with organic life. All Pretenders were, it was occasionally required if the life forms they were studying caught a glimpse of their real nature, so as not to contaminate the research. The Pretenders had mainly been for research in peacetime, and most had not survived the war. Alice, however, had been found and repurposed by the Decepticons, but still had access to all her Pretender abilities, including the option of keeping up to five alt-modes in storage for later use.

 _'Be careful in future, there's been no permanent harm done, but remember, these humans are fragile, and not as easy to repair as we are,'_ Dr Syn cautioned her.

 _'So far, we don't think the Autobots suspect, they've asked us to help look for Sam, but at some point they'll work it out, and we'll point out they have three fairly high level hostages, so they know we mean him no harm, and in the meantime we tempt them with a trade agreement that'll be too good to turn down once they work out what has happened,'_ Alice told him.

 _'Don't you mean **four** high-level hostages?'_ groused Dr Syn, indicating himself. _'I hadn't planned on staying here too long, because judging by the amount of half-fragged Autobots I've been repairing, there must be patients back on our own world that need my help.'_

 _'We haven't planned on a protracted stay either,'_ Alice said. _'Once everything is out in the open and we have to stand our ground over access to the AllSpark Energy, we'll try and explain our position and negotiate some access. We do have one further option, but we hope we don't have to use it,'_ Alice told the medic, her human-looking eyes flickering in an inhuman manner, one that indicated dread in a Cybertronian.

 _'What's that?'_ Dr Syn said sharply, alarmed at how Alice's voice and eyes had gone flat and unhappy.

 _'Ending the truce,'_ Alice said.


	8. Chapter 8

Persephone.

Chapter Eight.

A/N: Speech _'like this'_ is commed speech. Dr Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo on this site and is used here with her permission.

Sam came out of recharge, and Lightbeam, who was still nearby, commed his assistants to get Sam another cube of energon, and to come in, which they did. Starscream and Barricade must also have been informed, for they turned up just after, also taking up their customary positions. Sam wasn't sure why Starscream kept coming, he didn't seem to do anything except watch. Didn't he have a planet to run, after all?

The mechs Sam had had to turn away earlier came up, with their injuries, or listless hatchlings, and Sam, as promised, healed them first. Then the first adopted Creator brought their excited, energetic hatchling up to see him, and Sam wondered if the AllSpark's concern had been misplaced. It was as far from the torpid hatchlings he had healed as you could get, but he reached out for it all the same. He looked out over the others Lightbeam had brought, and the other eleven (for he had chosen to bring more than ten) played with each other and chased each other through the legs of the adults and clambered over the chairs and played in the open space.

He turned his attention back to the adult and its squirming bundle, who Lightbeam took from it's Creator and placed in Sam's hands.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

 _'Alice, that's madness! We've got many injured on both of our worlds, we don't need any more, nor do we wish to ruin our new worlds!'_ said Dr Syn.

 _'You and I know that, but Starscream insists on a big bluff, he doesn't trust Autobots at all.'_

 _'Starscream doesn't really trust **any** grounder, if you want my opinion,' _ Dr Syn said, _'and I think he's maybe spent a tiny bit too long out of the air at some point, because this is madness! Bluffs are all very well, but what happened if the Autobots call it?'_

 _'We end up back at war,'_ Alice said, her commed 'voice' colourless and toneless again.

War. Such a small but ugly word to describe the catastrophe that would occur if the bluff was called. At that moment, Dr Syn was determined that he would do whatever it took to stop that from happening, even if it meant betraying his own side.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Sam had asked Lightbeam to assemble more seemingly-healthy hatchlings, and worked until his system flashed warnings of extreme energy depletion before he stopped, stunned by what the AllSpark's findings on the apparently-healthy hatchlings had been.

All of them, every single one of them, had been damaged in a way that would mean their lifespans would be dramatically protracted. It might happen when they were still young, could even happen in the next orn, or at some point when they were adult, but every one Sam had checked had required healing, and Sam knew there were thousands. He told Lightbeam, who told Starscream, who sent orders that no more hatchlings were to be allowed out of stasis until Sam had healed those that were already out. Lightbeam had promised to access the adoption records, and call them in in batches.

Sam was well aware of what a huge task he had taken on, especially as he still hoped to get back to his own home and family on Autobot New Cybertron. Overwhelmed with the amount of mechs and hatchlings that needed help, he'd been kept too busy to dwell on his situation, but it didn't mean he didn't think of it. He was well aware that Ratchet had patients who could also use his help, but could he abandon the ones who came to him here, with hope in their optics where there had been none before?

And then there was the other thing that was bothering him. Not all of the hatchlings were still on the Nemesis, or on Decepticon New Cybertron.

Sam knew that the Autobots had taken on a fair number of the hatchlings on themselves.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

The Decepticons kept their end of the bargain, Soundwave using his sensors to scan near space, Thundercracker collaborating with Miles to search from the air, even the previously unexplored areas of the planet, and Alice, assisted by Dr Syn, Trailbreaker, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper, going out and searching small caves and narrow canyons in case Sam had fallen in them and got hurt. So far all their searching and scanning had come up negative, but Ratchet and Optimus weren't really expecting them to find Sam now, and were dreading the inevitable confrontation they would have to have. They would see if Cosmos, Mirage, and Brawn could sneak him out and get him back covertly, if they had Sam back, hopefully things wouldn't escalate.

In the meantime, Ratchet had something else to worry about. It was only a few, but he had seen hatchlings brought to him with a disturbing similarity of symptoms. The same thing was noted by each Creator: their hatchling, which had previously had almost boundless energy, was getting lethargic, and no amount of energon or recharge seemed to help. Temporarily, for a half joor, there was some improvement, yes, but not up to their original level, and once the half orn or so was up, they were back down to the lethargy they had noticed, and in some cases, it was visibly getting worse, day by day. It was already known that some were weak upon hatching and could go permanently offline with no obvious reason, which is why no hatchlings were presented to their adoptive Creators that were under 2 orns out of the cocoon. However, all these little ones had shown no such difficulties, or any other, at their hatching.

The worst part of it was that Ratchet was unable to be completely objective about the situation, for one of those affected was one of the two he had taken on himself. He had no idea what ailed his little one, or any of the others brought to him by worried adoptive Creators. Scans had revealed no obvious damage to the physical form or the processors, but he could see their Sparks were waning, and in a Cybertonian, a declining Spark was a sign of serious illness.

Usually, if unchecked, a waning Spark led to death, and Ratchet feared this was happening to the hatchlings, and he seemed to be unable to do anything to stop it.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

When Sam awoke again, he decided he needed a break from all the healing he was doing, he hadn't even seen if anything lay outside of this room, he realised, and as far as he knew, all the imminently in danger he'd healed, another joor or two wouldn't make much difference. He was also concerned for Lightbeam, whom as far as Sam knew had not had a chance to recharge since Sam had met him.

When Sam expressed this concern, Lightbeam said "I'm not using as much energy as you are, energon gives me the required energy, and Starscream's going to get some charging leads installed, so I can be recharged while still carrying out my Guardian duties."

"That's another thing, you seem to have nobody to relieve you. I'm going to speed up the Guardian process, I'm sure your trainees know enough to take up the task. If you agree with my assessment? Then maybe you can take in a couple of new trainees as well, and you get a chance to swap Guardian duty by me with one of the others."

"I would agree with your assessment, things are not as they were on Cybertron. I'll let them know, and it would be good if we could organise a small ceremony for them receiving their colours. On Cybertron it was a mass event, featuring several dozen fully trained trainees being given their colours, and it was a big thing for them. There should be some reflection of that for these ones."

"Sure, perhaps we can ask Barricade what music would be suitable?"

Movement in the room caught his optic, and he turned, hoping Lightbeam had passed on his decision not to heal today, and recognised Starscream.

However, the Seeker had not come in and retreated to his usual unobtrusive spot by the wall, he stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the dais. He was also not alone. A darker mech, his wing brother Skywarp stood one side of him, and Lightspeed's trainee Boost stood the other, and both of them cradled two wriggling hatchlings in their arms.

Sam was about to inform them that he was not healing yet, but changed his mind when he saw the look of fear and abject misery on Starscream's face. The Seeker looked up at Sam, and he saw thin lines of energon from burst lines running from his optics down his face

"Please help, Sam. Skywarp, Thundercracker and I took on two each, six between us, to look after," Starscream told him. "What if they suddenly go into decline?"

"That's highly unlikely, but I admit, not necessarily impossible. Bring them here, but that is all I am doing for the next two joors," Sam said, for he did not want Starscream's fear for his hatchlings to interfere with his duty of running the settlement. Starscream almost ran up the steps, bypassing Lightburst as he held the hatchlings out. Sam extended his cupped hands, and Starscream placed the two hatchlings he held in the cupped hands, which began to fill with blue-white light. Even as the first two were bathed in the AllSpark Energy, Skywarp and Boost lowered the hatchlings they held in, too, as there was plenty of room left in Sam's hands. When Sam had finished, he lowered his hands to the floor and opened them. The six hatchlings ran out, but were quickly rounded up and brought into line by Skywarp and Starscream between them.

"Thank you," Starscream said, dipping down into an oddly elegant bow.

"You're welcome," Sam said, standing again. "Now, in the time I have left, may I see outside? These four walls are getting awfully boring."

Of course," Starscream said. "Wait here, we'll take the sparklings back, and then I shall return, and show you around."

Starscream was as good as his word, and obviously was hangared not too far away, as he was back in a short space of time.

"Come, Sam, let us show you the progress we have made," he said, sweeping his hand forwards and, advancing to the door, beckoned Sam to follow. Sam was eager to see more of the planet, he may have been brought here and kept against his will, but the mechs and femmes had needed him, and he may as well make the most of being here and see what they had done. He ducked out of the door after the Seeker, took a few steps forwards, and then stood, looking all around him.

He had seen holos and images of some of the cities of Cybertron, and he could see that the buildings were being built in a similar style, with sweeping curved towers and pinnacles, huge metal buttresses and limbs, pocked and interlaced with roads that swept under and over some of the buildings. The building he had been in was part of a much taller structure, he saw, and although there were only a few of these towers, he could imagine that as the population swelled, so would the city.

It turned out, as was to be expected, that most of the buildings on Decepticon New Cybertron were accommodation, but there were a few exceptions. One of the biggest towers was to be for the group who would work as a ruling council, when it was formed, for although Starscream would be at the head of it, they could, if needed, vote him out if they all disagreed strongly enough with him. It was considered dangerous to give any one mech complete control over the planet, and, to stop the ruling group taking over via coup, the military of the planet would be under the control of a smaller council of three, who had no political bias, and all three would have to agree to action before the military would act.

The building he had been housed in, it seemed, was a multi-storey entertainment complex, for the floors above contained a concert hall, a holographic cinema, for lack of a better term, and a theatre, where Cybertronians acted out plays and shows, or used holographic projections to tell stories.

"We are building a better building for you to stay in, Sam, and it will have recharge facilities better than the ones you have," Starscream said. As Sam turned to look at the half-complete building the Seeker pointed out, low and compact in contrast to the spires and pinnacles about it, he wondered how long Starscream and the others expected him to stay.


	9. Chapter 9

Persephone.

Chapter Nine.

A/N: _'Speech like this'_ is commed speech. Dr Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo and is used here with her permission.

And happy birthday, ChronoSeth!

Three days later.

Mirage, Cosmos, and Brawn were all confused about the memory chips Ratchet had handed them, all they knew was that Ratchet had told them to go on an asteroid mining trip, and to look at the information in the chip only when they were well away from Autobot New Cybertron.

"Even I don't know what's on there," Ratchet told them, "but Prime gave me these, said something about a new asteroid he thought might be worth the trip."

"So why all the cloak and dagger?" asked Mirage.

"I guess maybe he doesn't want to lead the Decepticons to our regular mining sites, or maybe what's on this asteroid is valuable, maybe for trade purposes," Ratchet said. "Maybe he wants to stake a claim on it first."

"Well, we'd best get going," Cosmos said, and headed outside. Mirage and Brawn got into a transport shuttle with mining equipment and storage room, and they took off, Cosmos adopting his vehicle mode and following after.

When they were well clear of the planet, they all checked their chips, and found the asteroid was a polite fiction. The memory chips all contained the same information : the co-ordinates of Decepticon New Cybertron, and instructions to investigate and try to find out if Sam was, in fact, on the planet. If so, they were to attempt to find out how he was, and how he was being treated, and, if possible, to retrieve him and bring him back, all as discreetly as possible.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Back in the room he had first woken in, Sam stood as Barricade started playing his new composition, made for this particular event, and Lightburst walked towards him, with his two trainees in tow, while five more mechs and a femme walked two steps behind them, all in line.

The audience against the wall was greater this time, not just one or two mechs but several dozen, and Sam all of a sudden felt on display. What if this went wrong? **'Well, it's a bit late to worry about that now,'** he thought to himself.

Lightburst stopped at the bottom of the stairs and bowed.

"I am Guardian Lightburst, may I approach with the two behind me?"

Having been briefed about this earlier, Sam knew what to say. In this situation, in the Dome on Cybertron, it used to be another Guardian who responded, but as Sam had a mouth, he could respond himself.

"Approach, Lightburst, with the two behind you, and state the purpose of your visit," he said.

Lightburst walked up the steps, the trainees following, until he was stood before Sam, and his two trainees came to stand beside him as he bowed again.

"I bring my two trainees, Boost and Speedway before you, to ask if the AllSpark approves of them. They wish to be full AllSpark Guardians, to take their vows and receive their colours if the AllSpark accepts their offer of service, and approves of their appointment."

'Then I ask the first to advance, and to take his vow," Sam said.

It was Speedway who approached first, Lightburst stepping back to allow Speedway to take his place. The silver mech dropped to a kneeling position in front of Sam, lifting his head to lock optics with Sam before he began to speak.

"I, Speedway, do swear an oath of allegiance to the AllSpark, and the one who now bears it, in recognition and acceptance of the responsibilities and conduct expected of one of the AllSpark's sworn Guardians. As one of the AllSpark's chosen and accepted Guardians, if I am accepted, I promise to serve it, and it's chosen bearer, to the best of my ability. I promise to guide, guard, direct and protect as asked or as needed, even if such requires the sacrifice of my own Spark to do so. This I swear, witnessed by the AllSpark, and it's chosen bearer."

It was, Sam noticed, both very similar, but in some ways different, to the re-affirmation spoken by Lightburst when he renewed the red mech's own colours. He reached out his hands, placing them on the silver mech's shoulders.

There was a visible difference almost immediately, as Sam's hands glowed and a similar tracery to Lightburst's began scrolling over the silver mech's body. There was one main difference, however, for as Sam watched, Speedway's silver hide darkened and changed colour. When the AllSpark energy retreated, Speedway was no longer silver, but gold, with red patterning detailed over his body. His patterning was almost the reverse of Lightburst's, gold with red, instead of red with gold, and Sam wondered if the difference was in some way significant.

"Arise, AllSpark Guardian Speedway, with the AllSpark's approval and blessing," Sam said, only then noticing the steady culmination of the crescendo Barricade's music had slowly been building to as the newly-confirmed Guardian stood, bowed, and moved back to his previous position. Boost moved to take his place, bending and locking optics with Sam in the same manner. Barricade's music lifted briefly in a triumphant conclusion, before dropping back down to the background tempo and level it had been at, but beginning to build, ready, Sam assumed, for the next giving of colours.

Boost repeated the oath, with his name in place of Speedway's, and Sam placed his hands on Boost's shoulders. Again, energy moved out from his hands, decorating Speedway's blue hide with golden intricate designs, and as the energy faded, Sam said "Arise, AllSpark Guardian Boost, with the AllSpark's approval and blessing." Boost rose, dropped in an elegant bow and then moved back to stand where he had come from, as the music again hit a triumphant high, and dropped down again. Seeing them lined up, Sam realised that they were all now easily identifiable from each other even from a distance, and wondered if this might be a more mundane reason for the gold-and-red colour scheme of Speedway.

The three Guardians moved to stand beside Sam, Lightburst and Boost to his right, and Speedway to his left, and Sam reached down to pick up three of the nine attractively-wrought metal staffs one of the craftmechs had delivered to him earlier. He handed one to each of the three Guardians, who bowed and accepted them. Lightburst had told Sam that on Cybertron, all the AllSpark Guardians had possessed staffs like those, mainly for ceremonial use, but able to be used in a defensive or offensive capability if need be.

Lightburst transferred his own staff to his left hand, and reached his right hand out to wave it towards the six other individuals waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"We have six new potential trainees, who would like to pledge their intention to train," Lightspeed said, and Sam beckoned them up. One by one, they introduced themselves. The femme, who was the first to approach, was called Sunflare, and the mechs were called Surestrike, Roadblast, Quickfoot, Machspeed, and Airburst. As evidenced in some part by their names, the last two were Seekers.

The two Seekers didn't look much like Starscream, except for some superficial similarities in their heads, hips, and feet, Sam noticed, but he guessed that they had never taken an Earthly alt form. Starscream seemed to like his F-22 disguise mode for he still wore it; he had obviously kept the pattern and re-adopted it once they had made planetfall on Decepticon New Cybertron.

The first to approach was Sunflare, who stopped a couple of feet from where he was seated, and she abruptly dropped down and knelt (to Sam's embarrassment) before him. Her head, however, was not bowed, and Sam recognised it as the same position the new Guardians had adopted before he gave colours to them.

"I am Sunflare, and I come before the bearer of the AllSpark, to request your permission to begin training, with a view to becoming one of your AllSpark Guardians," she said. Once she had made the formal but short and simple speech, she dropped her head and her gaze, embarrassing Sam all over again.

"Uh, yeah, okay, you have it, and please, will you get up?" he asked, and there was a small ripple of laughter that Sam knew was at his expense, but not intended unkindly, so he ignored it. Sunflare stood and backed off, and one of the grounder mechs - Surestrike, the name was - moved up and also requested his permission to train as a Guardian. The other four followed suit, and Sam gave permission to each, who then withdrew. The new trainees received identical staffs to those given to the three full Guardians, and then went to speak to Lightburst, who divided them into two groups of three, and told them to report to the other two Guardians to begin their training in six joors.

After a short rest, (during which everyone but Sam, Lightspeed, and Barricade left,) Sam felt able to resume healing duties. At the back of his mind, as he cured hatchlings and war-injured mechs, was his earlier concern about the purpose-built building that would soon, according to Starscream, be completed and ready for him to move into, complete with a horizontal recharging unit and other amenities they thought he would appreciate. It was becoming a concern to Sam that the Decepticons had no intention of reconnecting his communications, propulsion, or spacebridging facilities any time soon, and he worried that they might not reconnect them ever.

As Sam healed another war-damaged mech, an idea came to him, and he almost laughed out loud at how relatively simple it was, and wondered why he had not, in fact, thought of it before. If he could repair damaged parts and replace missing ones, and re-energise Sparks and fix damaged processors with the AllSpark energy, surely using the energy to undo whatever disabling of his systems had been carried out should be relatively simple? He decided that he didn't want to draw too much attention to the fact, and thought of waiting until he was alone, just before recharge, or even just after, but decided he would at least make a start now with something passive, something that wouldn't be detected without a close scan or examination.

As he pulled back his still-glowing hands from the healed mech, he directed the energy towards his communications system. He just wanted to hear any messages the Autobots may have sent him.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

 _'Starscream, I understand that you do not trust the Autobots, but there must be a better way than risking war!'_ Dr Syn said, aware that there was not much time before Starscream would have to go back into the next ceremony, for Starscream had told him so. He waited out the short lag caused by the distance between the two planets.

 _'If they ask, assure them that he is safe and will remain so, but that until the Autobots are willing to share, he stays here, with us!'_ Starscream said.

 _'But Leader Starscream-'_ Dr Syn started, and then stopped, as he realised Starscream had cut him off. He didn't know if it was because the next ceremony was about to start, or more likely, because that was the final word he had to say on the matter, but that was the end of that. He only had one more course of action open to him, and it was the one he'd hoped to not have to take, and he went into the Autobot med bay to talk to Ratchet.

As Alice had surmised, the Autobots had found ways of convincing them to stay, including giving their transport shuttle a mechanical check and service, a nicety that kept them on the planet, ostensibly as guests, but in reality, they all knew they would not be permitted to leave just yet. None of the Decepticons was willing to push the issue, as all of them were weary of war. They would continue to fight if it were necessary, but the chance of peace had been dangled enticingly close, was still within reach, and none of those on the Autobot world were willing to risk it, not when there might still be time, still hope for something a bit more permanent.

Dr Syn went into the med bay and asked to speak to Ratchet, who was holding his sickly hatchling. He briefly explained where Sam was and Starscream's stance. "I hope something can be done, because I don't think any of us need this war to continue, not now we've had a taste of peace," the Decepticon medic finished up. "If you can permit me passage back to our world, I may be able to find some way to persuade Starscream to allow him back."

"I will ask Optimus, but if you are going back, I want to go with you," Ratchet said. "I trained as a negotiator, for one, and also, as Sam's medic, I know more about him than any other Cybertronian. Unfortunately, I think Starscream and some of the rest of you may have misunderstood the situation. Sam's command of the AllSpark powers has only been recently realised, by Sam as much as anyone else. Yes, it healed him and slowed his ageing, but none of us knew until he was changed how much of the AllSpark remained within him. He used the abilities rarely, even with us, and he asked us to not tell Starscream or most of the other Autobots about it, because he didn't want to be used as a replacement AllSpark by either or both sides. Anything he did as a human left him exhausted, so his organic form had its limitations.

After his change, we theorised the change might have used the abilities up, but his treatment of his parents showed that that is not the case. However, that revelation occurred within a joor of when he was taken, so most of us had no idea he still had the power within him."

"I hope Starscream will listen to you and me," Doctor Syn replied. "I wish we had some sort of back up plan, because there is too much at stake for many of us for this to go wrong."

"Let's go contact Optimus, and see if he'll agree, and maybe he can help can come up with that back-up you're after," Ratchet suggested.

Ratchet sent a commed message to Sam, not at all hopeful Sam would get or respond to it, as no other messages had showed signs of being received, and no response had so far been forthcoming. It made sense that the Decepticons would disable Sam's communications, but Sam was resourceful, and might find a way around it.

 _'Sam, if you are getting this, please send some sign you have heard, because things could be about to go rapidly downhill, and the last thing we need is the war starting again over you.'_

Then he stepped out, still holding his hatchling, beckoned to Dr Syn to follow him, and the two medics headed for Optimus' office.


	10. Chapter 10

Persephone.

Chapter Ten.

A/N: _'Speech like this'_ is commed Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo, and is used here with permission.

 **ChronoSeth** , this is what you have been waiting for! Happy birthday!

Sam quickly skimmed through the list of messages he had missed after the Decepticons had disabled his comms equipment, as he carefully directed healing energy to the other systems they had disabled, while simultaneously healing those mechs, femmes, and hatchlings brought to him by his Guardians. He found this ability to multitask by setting certain groups of processors aside to do tasks in the background at first unusual but very useful, but was beginning to wonder how he'd managed without it as a human. He laughed internally, because of course he had coped, and gotten along just fine. It was just so much more efficient being able to do things this way, and it was one advantage of his new form.

Unfortunately, he could not access the messages thenselves without calling to the computer on Autobot New Cybertron that had been built for that purpose, and he didn't want to send a signal that might be noticed until he was ready to move. He could, however, see how many messages he had missed, how frequent, and by whom. He noticed as the messages started out spaced apart, and then were repeated closer and closer together, and by more people, signifying when they realised he was out of communication.

He checked the status of his repairs, and checked the distance between Autobot New Cybertron and Decepticon New Cybertron, his time sense and processors meaning he could work out where the planets were in relation to each other based on the time passed and what he knew about the two systems. He was gratified to find the two planets were still within com distance, albeit at the outer edge, meaning there would be a small but noticable lag. His repairs had now all been quietly completed, and he decided it might be prudent soon to risk sending a signal to get his messages. If it were detected, he could stall for time, and if it became necessary, he could spacebridge somewhere he would not be disturbed.

Before he could do so, he received an incoming signal from Ratchet, which was alarming, but did not give enough information for Sam's liking.

 _'Sam, if you are getting this, please send some sign you have heard, because things could be about to go rapidly downhill, and the last thing we need is the war starting again over you.'_

The content made him startle, earning a concerned look from his Guardian, and a confused look from the mech he was healing, and from Starscream. He quickly sent a reply - _'More detail, please,'_ \- before turning back and focusing back on the mech and completing his healing, before accepting his thanks.

'Sam, what happened?' Starscream asked.

"Sorry, it won't happen again," Sam said. "Who's next?" He turned to the next person, and thought he might have got away with it until he saw Starscream straighten up, his optics brightening, signifying he had been commed. He turned to Sam.

"Your comm systems are meant to be disabled, rendered unable to transmit or recieve, so tell me, why has our mech on communications detected an unauthorised signal coming from here?" He moved towards Sam, his optics brightening, and Sam could see the Seeker was annoyed. The mechs waiting below backed off, sensing the building tension between the AllSpark-Bearer and Starscream. Sam took two steps back and to the side, not knowing what Starscream might do, and realised it must look ridiculous considering his size.

Movement from the other side caught his optics, and he realised that it obviously didn't look ridiculous to his Guardian, as Lightburst stepped between Sam and the Seeker, his own optics flashing. He raised his staff in a two handed grip in a diagonal barring pose, his stance not offensive or defensive, but conveying a clear message to Starscream: this far and no further.

The doors at the entrance opened, disgorging Speedway and three of the trainees, who ran to join Lightburst moving to either side as if practiced, to form a loose semicircle in front of Sam, with Lightburst at the apex.

Starscream looked taken aback, but took a step back: Lightburst responded by dropping the staff to a more relaxed but at-ready position, and Sam was grateful, for the actions of the Guardians had bought him enough time to come to some decisions.

"Guardians, please stand down," he said "I do not think Starscream will try to attack me, but I _do_ think he and I need to talk."

Lightburst and the Guardians moved to allow Sam to step back towards Starscream, and Sam glared at the Seeker.

"You deliberately had my communications and ability to transport to and from places disabled, and you expect me to just accept that? You cut me off from my family and friends and expect me to passively follow your orders and dance to your tune?" He said.

"Dance to your tune?" Starscream said, looking confused. Sam didn't know if Starscream was truly confused or just acting, but he was getting too annoyed to care.

"Do as you have said, and according to your plans," Sam clarified. He gestured to the building. "This is a very nice set up, as is the building you are creating for me, but you never planned to let me have any choice, did you? There's an Earth expression that covers that, Starscream, and it goes 'a gilded cage is still a cage.' You may have treated me as an honoured guest, you and the other Decepticons, except that by restricting my freedom, in reality I am nothing more than a VIP _prisoner!_ "

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Ratchet and Dr Syn were beginning to explain what they knew, and what they had thought of to Optimus Prime, when Ratchet, to his surprise, received a reply to the message he had sent Sam.

"It's Sam, he's responding!" Ratchet said, and both Optimus and Dr Syn stopped and turned to face him. "He's asking for clarification, so I'm giving it to him."

"Tell him -" Optimus started, but Ratchet raised a hand, and Optimus stopped speaking.

"I'm telling him the pertinent details, but in brief. His question was very brief. If he is on Decepticon New Cybertron, it is within comm range, but it's distant enough that there will be some lag time between sending and receiving. We also do not know if he will be able to keep his communications open, we do not know how he is being held, or if he is able to move, or able to stop them from disabling or jamming his signals, so brief is best, and less detectable, and has a better chance of getting through."

"If it helps, you should know that Sam will be given almost anything except free range and the option to communicate," Dr Syn said. Ratchet turned on him.

"You knew they were going to kidnap him, even if you didn't know all the details?" He demanded.

"No, but I _do_ know that Starscream did throw the idea out for discussion. I didn't know he had confirmed it, I _thought_ I had explained adequately why it would be a very bad idea. He tried to defend it by saying Sam would be treated with respect and dignity, and would have access to fuel and recharge facilities. He figured Sam would want to stay when he realised how many injured there were, but I pointed out Sam would be away from those he considered friends, and might worry about those injured on this world. I also pointed out that you Autobots might retaliate." His optics flickered. "Obviously it was not a sufficient deterrent."

"Not now we know Starscream sees war as an acceptable consequence of taking Sam," Ratchet said.

"Believe me, I think he is in the vast minority with that opinion," Dr Syn said. "Most of us are sick of war, and would rather there be peace. Now we've seen it possible, most of us want it more than you can imagine."

"I can imagine," Optimus stated, "because I also want peace, very, very much."

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Sam paused after his accusation, trying hard to calm himself down, and it was at that moment he received a reply from Ratchet.

 _'Sam, I am informed that Starscream is willing to allow the war to restart to keep you. Can you do anything your end?'_

Sam was shocked, and his anger, which he had been succeeding in keeping under control, flared again.

 _'Ratchet, clear a space in your medical centre and send the co-ordinates. I will be with you very soon, **after** I have spoken of this to Starscream.' _ He sent the message, and then took another step towards Starscream, and this time it was the Seeker who stepped back in fear.

'You would allow the war to restart, even after what we have seen? You brought those war damaged mechs and femmes to me in the full acceptance that, with a word from you they could be put in peril of the same, or worse, again? You told me they couldn't wait, that the needed my aid, but _you_ would give the order that would make them engage in the same activity that _caused_ their injuries in the first place?" Sam felt his anger rise.

"The war started because the Autobots wouldn't share in the first place!" Starscream said. "They were still planning to keep you to themselves, they have learned nothing from the war!" Sam, through his anger, would not believe the gamble Starscream was willing to take, and the mistake he had made.

"No, _you_ leaned nothing!" Sam roared, and everyone in the building took a few steps back as he brought his head down to look Starscream straight in the optics. "I'm sure I have told you before that I asked the Autobots not to let you know because I feared you would do something like this. And it seems I was right. Perhaps if, during the trade negotiations you had asked, this could have been sorted out without the risk of war, but I find it beyond belief that you would accuse the Autobots of exactly what you seem to have been planning yourself!"

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO

Ratchet's optics flashed again. "Sam's asking for a clear space in the medical room, so I'm going to use that big area we haven't finished yet, there are a few things to move, but we should have time," he said. He smiled tightly. "Especially as Sam said he needs to discuss Starscream's belief that war is an acceptable alternative with him."

He nodded to Optimus. "If we may be excused, Sir, and if you would assist me, we have a room to clear." This last he addressed to Dr Syn, who nodded his agreement. He looked at Optimus. "Please don't try and communicate with Sam until and unless we know he is in a position to be disturbed, and I believe that right now he is otherwise engaged with speaking to a certain Seeker of our acquaintance. Here, make yourself useful, and look after my little one," he said, transferring the hatchling he still held to one of Optimus' arms and placing a feeding bottle in the Autobot Leader's free hand. As he and Dr Syn left, Ratchet looked back over his shoulder to see Optimus beginning to feed the hatchling as requested.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Starscream looked stricken, but Sam had only just gotten started.

"To make it worse, you are threatening to use your flawed assumptions and reasoning to reignite a conflict which has already cost billions of lives, and lasted long enough for entire civilisations to begin, flourish and die. Aren't you _sick_ of the conflict, Starscream? _I_ am, and I've not lived as long as you." He paused briefly before continuing, pressing home his point.

"And the AllSpark? Do you really think _it_ is happy about the lives lost, and will welcome any _more_ killing?" he asked. "I don't think so, in fact I would be _very_ surprised if it wanted anything more to do with the Cybertronian race, if our greatest talent seems to be mutual destruction. Why give life for it just to be prematurely ended? Why _bother_ healing someone if all they are going to do is go out and get injured again, or killed, fighting a war that has already gone on way...too... long!" He punctuated each of the last three words with a jab of one pointed finger at Starscream's face.

Sam felt the heat rise about him as Starscream, and even his own Guardians, suddenly backed off by several paces. He smelt burning paint, and then the scent of hot metal, even as mechs and the two other femmes in attendance fled, some crying out in terror, through the door at the far end.

He pulled back as he realised in his anger that his force-fields had dropped, and the heat from his vents, stoked by his rage, were at temperatures that would likely prove lethal if someone stayed in close proximity to him. He looked down briefly, saw all the paint applied by Ratchet and Bumblebee had turned black, shrivelled, and flaked off, and recognised the red-black burned-metal armour the Fallen had sported, lined with the orange-red venting that was rapidly making the room he was in inimical to even Cybertronian life.

He caught sight of his distorted reflection on the opposite wall, a dark form with glowing red vents and harshly burning blue optics, the difference in optic colour to the Fallen's not seeming at all reassuring. He fought with his anger briefly, then concentrated instead on control of his force-fields, letting out another bellow as he concentrated in raising the force-fields. He hadn't realised his emotional state could affect the system, something else he would ask Ratchet to try and change, assuming he got back, and that Ratchet could.

As if thinking of his name was a charm, a message from Ratchet came through.

 _'This room is clear'_ he said, and a stream of co-ordinates followed. Sam fed them into his processors, even as he managed to bring his force-fields back up. He paused, and he suddenly lunged first for Starscream, and as he pulled the frightened Seeker against his body, twisted to scoop up Lightburst in his other arm, and clasping them both to him, he spacebridged away.


	11. Chapter 11

Persephone.

Chapter Eleven.

A/N: Dr Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo on this site and is used with her permission. Speech _'like this'_ is commed speech.

There was a stunned silence for a second after Sam disappeared from the building, holding one of his Guardians under one arm, the second clasping the Decepticon Leader to his other side. Then the silence was broken as people moved and looked around, still wary of the residual heat in the building. They murmured nervously, looking back to the empty space in front of the recharge chair as if expecting Sam to return as abruptly as he had left, with several looking uncertain about whether they wanted him to.

A moment later, Barricade set down his instrument and stood. Being used to playing to and interacting with an audience from before the war, he raised both open hands in the air, fingers spread and palms facing towards the crowd, and waited. One by one people saw him and allowed their conversation to finish, turning towards him and falling silent expectantly. Once he had their attention, he lowered his hands and spoke.

"I believe that Sam has left the planet entirely, and the manner and speed of his departure strongly suggests he will not be returning any time soon. May I suggest that you all return to your homes, except for a select few. We need to find a way to bring the AllSpark bearer back, but he made his and the AllSpark's feelings on Starscream's solution very plain. Starscream might be willing to risk further conflict to secure the AllSpark-bearer's presence here, but what of everyone here?"

A murmur of discussion ran through the crowd, increasing as more people, drawn by the commotion, peered through the doors, saw it was safe, and came in. Barricade did not need to hear individual conversations to hear from the anger and anxiety in the tone of the murmur to guess that the majority of those present didn't want more war either. He allowed a few more moments of discussion before raising his hands and his voice to project his voice above the crowd.

"If you, or anybody you know, has negotiation skills, send them here. If we are to avoid conflict, we need to be diplomatic, and my own skills in that area are somewhat...lacking," he said. "Our objectives are to attempt to avoid conflict first over the initial kidnapping of Sam, then to ask if Sam's Guardian and Starscream are unharmed, and with any luck, negotiate for some limited contact for our seriously injured to see Sam, if, after this, he will consider the idea."

Another murmur, this time in an agreeing tone, ran through the crowd, and optics flashed as mechs communicated with people outside, letting them know what was going on, as all but a few dispersed. Barricade knew that in the shock of the moment, people would be looking for guidance, for leadership, and at that point, with both Starscream and Lightspeed taken who knew where, and Soundwave not even on the planet, he was the nearest alternative.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Sam appeared an inch above the floor of the empty room and landed, swaying as he tried to keep himself and his passengers, who were both crying out in shock, upright. He set them down feet-first on the floor as his gyros kicked in and stabilised him almost immediately, wondering at how much disorientation they must have experienced, because they were both hunched up and letting out small sounds of fear...

Sam's audios registered several things at that moment: the sounds were not of complaint, and neither were they of confusion. The cries, he realised, were of pain.

He moved over to where Lightspeed had dropped his staff and was trying to hold his arms over part of his plating, a part that looked damaged, darkened and...partially melted?

Belatedly Sam realised that although he had brought the force-fields up to cover the hot vents, that same heat had very recently been licking over and spreading through his own hide. The vents were now safe, but his hide, which must have a higher heat tolerance than most, had been heated up enough to soften and burn into the hide of his Guardian, and probably that of the Seeker, as he had held them against him.

He turned to Starscream to see him hunched over to one side more than the other, stumbling away from him in fear. Sam hated to see him that frightened, but he had also brought him for a purpose. However, despite Starscream's fear, Sam had to do something about both injured mechs, but if Starscream was going to flee from him...

He was about to turn to Lightburst when the doors Starscream was headed for opened, letting Ratchet and Dr Syn in. As the two medics instinctively reached out to the distressed Seeker, Sam moved swiftly towards them. He sent Ratchet a quick databurst, making an educated guess, and asking him to hold Starscream as he advanced on him.

Starscream caught a glimpse and keened, straining against the two medics who held him but they did not yield. Sam gripped the Seeker by the shoulders, swivelling the frightened flier to face him, noticing the cockpit glass cracked by the heat, the deformed metal and glass, and the crumpled, mangled wing leading edge and main wing on the Seeker's left side, the one that had been pressed against Sam's hide.

Sam wasted no further time, sending a wave of AllSpark energy out from his body. It engulfed the Seeker, who must have realised what was happening, for as the blue light flowed over him, he ceased to struggle and keen.

Metal brightened and straightened, the cracked glass rippled and then mended seamlessly, the crack gone as if it has never existed. The wing un-crumpled and straightened, the heat damage smoothing away as the wing became strong and fully functional again, and by the time Sam released him as the blue halo faded, Starscream's injuries were only a memory.

Ratchet moved over, watching Starscream as he did a quick circuit around him, his optics looking carefully over his form. Starscream himself ran a hand over his mended plating and cockpit himself in wonder, and turned to look at Ratchet.

"There is no need to check me, medic, Sam has healed me completely." His voice was part awed, and part his usual, slightly officious, self.

"So I see," said Ratchet, his optics still continuing their restless survey of the Seeker's body as he completed his circuit.

"Then what are you looking for?" Starscream said.

"This, my apologies," Ratchet said, before hitting Starscream's reset relay, and catching the Seeker as his optics dimmed and he crumpled to the ground, Dr Syn moving to his other side to assist.

"What was that for?" Dr Syn asked Ratchet accusingly.

"Sam is of the opinion that Starscream may need some recharge, as he does not know when Starscream last had any, and I am in agreement. Although the AllSpark has healed him, he did suffer a severe traumatic injury, and the best cure for the shock of what has happened would, in my professional opinion, be recharge. My biggest recharge chamber is in the room next door, can you help me put him in there, Doctor?"

"Sam might be better to move and place this big lunk," Dr Syn said. "Or at least one or two someones equal to or exceeding Starscream's own height."

"In a minute," Sam said, as he approached Lightburst again, who reached out to Sam, either guessing his intention or pleading with his body language. Sam took hold of his Guardian's arms, and blue AllSpark energy moved to heal him just as it had Starscream, and like the Seeker's, the Guardian's hide looked as if it had never been damaged when the energy retreated. He bowed to Sam, who nodded his head before moving over to crouch and scoop the unconscious Seeker into his arms.

Cradling the Decepticon Leader as easily as Starscream himself might hold a Cybertronian youngling, Sam nodded to Ratchet, who opened a door and beckoned him forward. Lightburst moved to follow behind with Dr Syn, and once they were through the door, Ratchet opened a recharge chamber that looked brand new and big enough to take two mechs of Sam's height and width, easily accommodating Starscream, whom Sam carefully laid inside.

"Thank you for your assistance Sam," Ratchet said. "In you get, there's room enough."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Come on Sam, you've just spacebridged and healed two mechs, and that's just what I know you have done, and that must be energy-hungry enough. If you want an energon first, that can be arranged, but I think it likely you need a recharge too. So are you going to see sense, or am I going to have to hit _your_ reset relay too?" His voice was quite bland, and sounded as if he were discussing nothing more than the recent weather, but the scowl Ratchet favoured him with left Sam in no doubt that Ratchet was perfectly serious, and ready and able to turn his threat into action.

Lightburst moved between them and raised his staff, but Sam dropped his hand to his Guardian's shoulder.

"Stand down, Lightburst, Ratchet is of course correct, but no drastic action will be needed by either of you. I'll get in quietly, but that energon you offered first would be much appreciated."

"I'll get it, where is it?" Lightburst asked, and Ratchet gave him an empty cube and pointed him to the dispenser at the back of the room. As Lightburst moved to fill it, Ratchet said to Sam "I'll wake you and get you out before Starscream, but Seekers are used to sleeping with at least one other, and Starscream needs to feel comfortable enough to allow the recharge to be effective. If you recharge with him, his subconscious will let him know he's not alone and allow him to gain the maximum benefit from his recharge."

"Certainly, I'll want him at his best tomorrow," Sam said.

"You brought him here for a specific reason then, not just as a hostage or a bargaining chip?" Ratchet asked.

"We'll be bargaining alright, but not with Starscream as a sweetener or a threat," Sam said. "He is the leader of his planet, I think it only fair that he participate in the negotiations. It's become clear to me that there are mechs and femmes, and hatchlings as well, on both worlds, who will need my help, and I think I can help, we just need to agree terms, and restrictions, and boundaries." He paused. "Ratchet, there is something I need to tell you." Sam said. "It's about the hatchlings from the Fallen's ship, they're all damaged, and -"

"Primus, the hatchlings!" Ratchet cried, interrupting Sam mid-sentence. "Sam, have you got enough energy at the moment to heal two small hatchlings who I fear are in imminent danger of death?"

"Of course," Sam said.

"I'll go get them," Ratchet said, and headed out of the room at a run, comming Prime as he left.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Optimus had just finished feeding the hatchling, and started running his engine to lull the little one into recharge, when Ratchet came in, without even comming as was generally polite, but using his medic's override codes to open the door. In one arm was a different hatchling, and Ratchet extended the free arm towards his own.

"Sam said he can use the AllSpark energy to heal the hatchlings. Here, give him to me!"

Optimus handed over the hatchling, and watched with slightly widened optic shutters as the medic turned and set off at a run out of the office. Ratchet being blunt almost to the point of rudeness was nothing new, but Optimus could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Ratchet run outside of a battle, with digits to spare.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Ratchet came back in about a breem after he left, still at a run, cradling the hatchlings. Sam set aside the now-empty cube of energon Lightburst had drawn for him - his second - and held his hands out and Ratchet carefully lowered the hatchlings into Sam's hands, which immediately began filling with the light of the AllSpark's healing energy.

Sam, through the AllSpark, could fell that these two were very sick, even as the energy corrected the situation, infusing the Sparks with energy, healing them and brightening them to what was normal for two little hatchling mechs. It was evident to any observers too, as the little forms began to click and squirm with renewed energy. Ratchet watched and waited until the light in Sam's hands died, and reached in to grab the two wriggling forms with firm but gentle hands, holding them expertly, one in each arm, before inclining his head.

"Thank you, Sam, these two were showing signs that they were at severe risk of fading and permanently offlining. I assume that is no longer the case?"

"They will not die early unless they are involved in an accident or some form of combat involving lethal force," Sam said.

"Then you should know that there are two very grateful adoptive Creators on this world, and one of them is standing before you," Ratchet said. "Thank you, Sam, for saving my hatchling, and this other one."

"Are there any more in imminent danger?" Sam asked. "That can't wait a couple of days, or at least till I have recharged?" He was feeling fatigued, the healing and spacebridging had taken a lot of his energy.

"No, Sam, you get in with Starscream before he comes around," Ratchet said, transferring both hatchlings to the surprised Dr Syn's arms and lifting the lid of the recharging berth. Sam scrambled in, arranged the Seeker so there was room for them both, curling around him spoon-fashion, and was dropping into recharge even before Ratchet set the dial for six hours, ensuring neither would wake before then unless someone outside interrupted the charging cycle.

He called the other adoptive Creator to pick up their hatchling, and he and Dr Syn were both in the process of trying to lull both suddenly energetic hatchlings into their own recharge loops when Ratchet received a comm from Optimus.

 _'Ratchet, we are receiving a call from Decepticon New Cybertron, from Barricade and a mech who identifies himself as AllSpark Guardian Boost.'_

Realising both the Decepticon medic and Lightburst might need to hear this, Ratchet switched to speaker, so Optimus' voice could be heard by all.

"They want to know if Sam and his two...passengers?...are alive and well," Optimus continued, "and are asking for a chance to reconcile and negotiate. They are requesting that you, and Sam, and Starscream, and someone called Lightburst, come to the communications room to talk." Optimus paused, and then spoke again.

"Am I guessing right, Ratchet, that Sam has _kidnapped_ Starscream from his own world and brought him here?"

"Yes, but please let them know Sam and Starscream are both in recharge for the next six hours, and that I will be up as soon as I have returned this hatchling to his Creator. In fact, I think the Creator in question is here now," Ratchet said as he heard the doors open.

When he looked up, however, there were three figures in the doorway, and none of them were the hatchling's Creator. He contacted Optimus again, this time without the speakers.

 _'Looks like someone's contacted Soundwave and the other on-planet Decepticons to tell them what's happened, and they are here, I assume to get some answers.'_ Ratchet suddenly remembered that Soundwave could read minds, and had likely 'heard' what he had told Optimus anyway.

"Affirmative," Soundwave answered as he moved into the room, flanked by Alice to his left and Thundercracker on his right.


	12. Chapter 12

Persephone.

Chapter Twelve.

It was at that moment that Ratchet realised that all of the mechs who were awake around him were Decepticons, and he quickly assessed the location of exits, the feasibility of getting to them, and potential weapons, including the medical tools he had stored in his feet. Then he realised that Sam was helpless in the recharge chamber and too easy a target if the Decepticons wanted to take him back. He couldn't leave, but felt that if it came to a fight he would be outnumbered, plus at a disadvantage with a vulnerable hatchling cradled in one arm.

At that moment Dr Syn stepped forwards, still purring his engine to calm the hatchling he still held, and said "Sam found a way to repair his systems and spacebridged here, with Starscream and AllSpark Guardian Lightburst. He doesn't want any more war, and has given indications that he is willing to work out some way that he can aid us all, Autobot and Decepticon. However, at the moment, he is in for six hours of medically-advised recharge. So may I suggest we all draw some energon, go to another room, swap news and let Sam get that recharge?" He cocked his head at Ratchet. "Seems as if we might all be able to get what we want without resorting to further violence, if we all, after suitable recharge and relaxation, engage in discussion of our wants, needs, expectations, and rights. However, we should not forget Sam's rights, or that he is the one who suggested negotiation. Thus, it is my belief that we should not continue without his input." Still purring his engine and jiggling the clicking hatchling in one arm, he tilted his head to one side and looked at Soundwave.

"Explanation; adequate. Conclusion; logical, suggestions-acceptable," Soundwave said. He turned to look at Ratchet.

"Ratchet's-fears-unfounded. Attack-unnecessary. Negotiation-desirable."

Ratchet looked surprised, and then locked optics with Soundwave.

"Get out of my head!" He growled, then turned and took a step towards the door into the main Medbay, beckoning the others to follow him. "The energon's this way, we'll explain what's happened in the last few breems, and then I think we should go talk to Prime and explain to him."

"It is my duty as the only AllSpark Guardian present, to stay nearby to guard Sam, who bears the AllSpark's essence," Lightburst said. "Sam has made his, and the AllSpark's, wishes clear, that they wished to come here. As such, I give my word as the AllSpark's sworn guardian that I will not move the AllSpark's Bearer from this place, or permit anyone else to do so." He sent Thundercracker a com. "This is a copy of my memories and thoughts about what happened while Sam was on Decepticon New Cybertron, this should give you what you may need to know from me. If you have further questions, com me." He stepped next to Sam's recharge chamber defensively.

"Very well, guard him, and let me know immediately if either of them show any signs of waking prematurely, and once the chamber enters the last breem or so of its cycle. You know where the energon is, the dispenser at the back, help yourself," Ratchet said, sending his comm codes to the Guardian on an open channel.

At that moment, the doors behind Alice, Soundwave, and Thundercracker opened again, and this time Ratchet did recognise the figure. He waved his hand from side to side to indicate that the others should move aside to clear a path, and he moved over to the figure silhouetted in the door entrance, and placed the hatchling he held in the hands of the waiting mech.

"Here, Highway, your hatchling is healthy, and no longer in danger. I will speak further with you later as I have other, very pressing matters to attend to right now, but rest assured that your little one is out of danger."

"Thank you so much," Highway replied, his optics drifting to the Decepticons, and nodding in understanding before he dipped a little bow. Then he turned and left, cooing at his clicking little hatchling happily. Ratchet waited until he was out of sight before closing the door.

"If the rest of you would like to follow me, we can discuss this briefly in the next room, and then I would like us to let Prime know what is going on. If you have any objection, voice it now, otherwise, follow me."

He received no objections from any of them; instead they each nodded assent, and then followed him out of the door.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

When Optimus received a request for entry to his office from Ratchet, he responded by comming open the door, and was surprised when the Autobot medic entered, his recharging hatchling cradled in one arm, followed by the three Decepticons who made up the original negotiation party, plus Dr Syn, the Decepticon's own medic.

"Greetings," Optimus said, stalling slightly by moving to the energon dispenser behind him and beginning to draw cubes from it for his guests. Alice gave a sharp acknowledging nod followed by a very human tilt of her head, Thundercracker said "Greetings to you too," and Soundwave dipped his chin in acknowledgement.

Dr Syn said "Ratchet suggested we pool our knowledge, and between us, we have an idea of what happened. We'll outline the current situation, but until Sam, who is recharging, is awake, we won't get his side of things."

"I am willing to hear what you do have," he said, sending a com out to Cosmos, Mirage and Brawn to abort their mission and return. "You stated that Starscream is here, in recharge, and that so is Sam, who is also recharging. I believe Ratchet stated there was another amongst you? Lightburst, an AllSpark Guardian?" Optimus asked.

"He's guarding Sam, as is right," Thundercracker said, as if surprised that Optimus had needed to ask.

"Of course," Optimus said. "I would like to meet him later, for I thought all the AllSpark Guardians dead or fled when Iacon fell."

"Well, that is part of the explanation we need to give," Dr Syn said. There was a pause as Optimus distributed the cubes, making sure each mech got one, and topped his own cube up. He sat in his own specially-made seat of wood, steel, marble, and memory foam, and indicated the seats up against the walls. "Please choose an appropriate seat." He addressed Thundercracker briefly. "There is one flyer's chair to the left that should suit your particular needs. The rest of you should be able to find something that fits." He pointed out a human-sized chair on his desk that would fit Alice, and the Pretender leaped onto the desk with an inhuman grace, and sat in it, Dr Syn handing her up her cube. Then he and Soundwave found chairs that fitted their frames, drawing them up by Thundercracker's, and sat down.

Optimus waited until they were all seated, and then nodded to show he was listening. It was Thundercracker who spoke first.

"Starscream had his suspicions about Sam, and they were confirmed when he appeared so suddenly changed, and we heard about how he healed his parents..."

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Lightburst noticed a light flashing on the control console of the recharging unit he stood guard before; a quick check confirmed that the unit was in the last fifteen minutes of its cycle. He opened a com to Ratchet and sent him a quick notification. Then he turned to watch, activating proximity sensors so he could not be sneaked up on from behind.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Optimus nodded; the information he had received had cleared much up, and he had told the Decepticons things they needed to know to fill the gaps in their knowledge. Even without Sam present, the trade of information so far seemed to have benefited both parties, not least because they now knew and understood more about each other and each other's current motivations than before they had spoken to each other.

Ratchet's optics flashed briefly as he repeated the information Thundercracker had been told by Lightburst. He stood.

"May I suggest that we wait a short time, Lightburst has just told me that Sam is about to wake, and I want him out a little before Starscream. I suggest that Dr Syn and I go down initially, we don't want Sam becoming alarmed. I am sure what both he and Starscream have to add can only clarify what we already know." He held his hatchling out to Optimus, who put his hands out and settled it in one of his own arms without waking it. Ratchet then turned to Dr Syn. "May I suggest we head down now?" he asked.

Dr Syn nodded, and the two medics turned and left Optimus' office.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

"Sam? Time to wake up."

Sam came to awareness quickly as his optics unshuttered and he found Ratchet bending over him, holding the lid of the recharging unit up. He moved the arms of the still-recharging Seeker from around him and then sat up carefully as Ratchet beckoned. He slid out of the recharge unit and stood, allowing Ratchet to lower the lid over the still sleeping Starscream. Ratchet beckoned him away from the unit, the Guardian Lightburst and the Decepticon medic Dr Syn following. Once they were ten feet away, Ratchet turned to address Sam.

"Starscream will be waking in a short time, but as promised, I've woken you first. What happened? You can databurst me your memories of the event, it's faster, that way we can be prepared when Starscream awakes," Ratchet sent Sam a brief 'how to' tutorial on copying and sending memories, in case Sam had not learned how to do so yet, and Sam complied. Ratchet scanned the information quickly, and, after asking and receiving Sam's permission, forwarded it to Dr Syn and Optimus Prime.

"I should inform you that Soundwave, Thundercracker, and Alice turned up not long after you went into recharge, and I believe will wish to be part of the negotiations." Ratchet said. Dr Syn nodded his agreement with Ratchet's assessment.

"Will I have to send them my memories too?" Sam asked. "I guess they should also be aware of the circumstances." Ratchet and Dr Syn both shook their heads.

"Soundwave is in Optimus Prime's office with Alice and Thundercracker," Dr Syn clarified. "Soundwave can read minds, so what Optimus knows, Soundwave will soon become aware of."

There was a quiet 'beep' from the recharge unit, and Ratchet and Dr Syn moved over.

"Starscream will be awake in a few minutes, Sam. Please wait here with Lightburst while we get him out of the unit." Sam acquiesced and the two medics went over and lifted the hood of the unit. The two conversed briefly, then each spoke briefly to Starscream, and then Starscream sat up. The Seeker looked over at Sam, said something else inaudible to Ratchet, and stood up. He looked over to Sam again, who put a hand up to beckon him over.

As Starscream moved over with Dr Syn, Ratchet went to get a cube of energon, which he brought over and gave to the Seeker. Starscream took a long drink of the energon, licked his dermaplating, cocked his head at Ratchet and said "Apology accepted." Sam was a bit confused for a moment, before recalling that Ratchet had apologised to Starscream before knocking him out. Starscream turned to Sam then, and said "It seems I have you to thank for that, both by melting me, and by tattling on me to your medic."

"Well, I guess I'm sorry about the melting, that wasn't my intention, but don't tell me you didn't need the recharge," Sam said. "Considering you kidnapped me earlier, and the AllSpark energy allowed me to repair the damage I did, I'd say we're about even on what we've done to each other."

"Yes, I agree, and now we've sorted that out, can we all go to Optimus' office please?" Ratchet said. "I imagine the other Decepticons, not to mention Optimus and those you left behind on Decepticon New Cybertron, are waiting to see you all, some of the latter, I suspect, to confirm Starscream and Lightburst still live."

"I wouldn't kill them," Sam said.

"Well, Sam, you did pretty much put the fear of Primus into most of them when you got mad and flared up like that, and then you grabbed Starscream and I, and, to their knowledge, disappeared," Lightburst explained. "They had no idea what state of mind you were in, or indeed what your plans are or were. I still don't know, not really. Seeing as you were so angry when you left, who knows what the rest of those on Decepticon New Cybertron might have assumed?"

Sam opened his mouth, about to make a tart remark about the Decepticon mindset, and then remembered how his own reflection had given him pause, and shut his mouth again. Dr Syn spoke up next, directing attention away from Sam's uncharacteristic silence.

"As such, it might be a good idea for us to make our way out of here, and go up to reassure them," he said. He nodded to Ratchet, moving his arm towards him. "Please, lead the way."

Ratchet nodded, moved to the door, and said "Be my guests. Follow me."


End file.
